The Wrong Lessons
by fermataoso
Summary: Fiyero and Elphaba make a deal. Fiyeraba.
1. The Trouble with Schools

Fiyero tapped his pencil in boredom, the rhythmic noise providing some relief from the sheer oppression of words and unimaginative figures being shoved down his throat. He surrendered the act of pretending to listen, now fully turning his attention to staring out the window at the students passing by. He continued tapping, soothed by its false activity. Why did school have to be so relentlessly uninteresting? His drumming unintentionally got louder in pace with his increasing boredom until suddenly his pencil was pulled from his hands.

"Hey!" he turned around in surprise, looking to see what vortex must have sucked his pencil into it only to face a very annoyed Elphie holding it. Oops.

"Do you mind? Some of us are trying to learn." He grinned, exasperating her. This was much better. Elphie was many things, but boring was never one of them.

He pouted, and she rolled her eyes. The window was now abandoned in favor of her. How could she find this stuff interesting? Yet clearly she did, and her three pages of notes compared to his half-hearted doodle could attest to.

He cocked his head to the side, trying to read what she'd written, but it was just as boring as when the professor had said it. His eyes wandered up to her face, which was much more interesting. She was such a mystery to him, a girl that didn't swoon over him, a studious girl that spent almost as much time with the headmistress as he did, a green-skinned girl that was somehow enormously attractive despite that seeming flaw. Was it her long hair, kept hidden from the world in its braid? Her sharp cheekbones? Her smooth lips? Her graceful neck? What was it about her?

She caught him staring, turning to hold his eyes for a moment. "What?"

Another grin, "Nothing." It was the eyes, passionate and fierce and sexy. Definitely the eyes.

At her glare, he turned to look away enough to dodge back under the radar. She hissed at him quietly, somehow simultaneously taking notes on a class she could only be half-listening to. "What is your problem?"

"I'm bored," he sighed. "Really, really bored."

"Well, you could try, I don't know, _paying attention."_ She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, how can you expect to learn anything staring out the window?"

She'd noticed him? That drew a smile from him, which echoed in a frown on her face. As she huffed to turn away, he said flatteringly, "I pay attention to you. You can teach me later." She glared at him.

"Why don't you at least _try_ listening?"

"I did. Really!" He added the latter at her incredulous look. With a sigh, he fell back to his failsafe plan, "See, the trouble with schools is, they always try to teach the wrong lessons."

"Nice try," she interrupted, "but I think the real trouble is you don't apply yourself." He faked a shocked look, and she whacked his arm. "Really, you're not that stupid."

"Thanks!" he interjected sarcastically, but she continued, undeterred.

"You're just lazy. You never work at anything. And don't give me that 'dancing through life' philosophy junk. You could be a great student if you applied yourself. Just look at how spectacular you are at being annoying, or getting in trouble, or organizing those Oz-forsaken dances. You have the potential, if you would really _do_ something with that brain of yours."

"Well, you have the body to do something with, if you'd stop studying all the time." He winked at her, but she just sighed and turned away. "Okay, look, I'm sorry. I just don't find schoolwork interesting, just like you don't find dancing or anything else that involves people in any way interesting."

"That's not true. You know, not everyone is blessed with the obnoxious flock of adoring fans like you. When I'm surrounded by a crowd, they throw produce instead of panties. It's hardly an incentive to be social."

"Elphie, that's all in your head."

She glanced down at her skin, disbelief etched in her sarcastic word, "Right."

"Okay, look, let's make a deal. You can teach me something about whatever you want, and I'll teach you something about whatever I want. So you can make me learn whatever boring, intellectual thing you decide I should know, and I get to teach you whatever exciting, social skill I decide you should know. I'll promise to apply myself if you will, okay?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "You promise you'll try?" He nodded. "But in exchange I have to study whatever you say."

Only Elphaba could consider parties and dancing as studying. She hesitated, so he added, "Within reason."

Unfortunately, she was not one to let him off the hook that easily. "For example…"

He tried not to smile deviously, thinking of several things he'd love to teach her that unfortunately were still almost certainly out of bounds. "Well, I'm sure you guessed I'll probably want to teach you dancing first."

She spent a moment in quiet consideration. "Alright. I suppose I can sacrifice some of my free time for the sake of your education." He smirked. Leave it to Elphie to make it sound like she was doing him such a huge favor. "When do we start?"

"You can go first," he offered chivalrously. "When is good for you?"

"You're the one with the packed social calendar."

"You're at the top of the list. Pick whenever you want." He'd rather spend time being tortured by grammar rules with her than spend time doing anything without her. They set up a time, and she went back to paying attention to class. In a show of good faith, he tried to pay attention, too, only to find himself staring at the corner where there might potentially be a spider web.

His pencil percussion picked up where it left off until Elphie threatened, "If you tap that one more time…"

He set it down in truce, smiling mischievously as she turned back to class. She sighed in relief, returning her full attention to the professor. So then he was forced to tap it just to annoy her into talking to him again. Without even a sideways glance, she reached over and grabbed the pencil, snapping it in two. Gloating, she dropped the pieces back on his desk.

He waited a second before resuming his tapping happily. Now he just had two halves to drum with instead. This was going to be a great experiment.

* * *

AN: I remembered the pencil bit from wicked.witch.of.the.west.end's fantastic oneshot Tapping, and thought I'd borrow that little tic for Fiyero to adapt in the frame for this story. If you haven't read this oneshot, I highly recommend it. It's a quick read, and I still enjoy rereading it.


	2. Lessons Learned

They started right away, and Elphaba chose her first lesson to be the material Fiyero needed to know for his quiz. "You should be ashamed of yourself for failing. You're capable of so much more." He sighed, not wanting to argue, and agreed to study. He'd done his best to stay focused and throw himself into it, knowing she would only participate as much as he did. She taught him the material, giving him memory clues and quizzing him. For the first time, he actually felt prepared for a test. He'd never found anything particularly difficult to understand, just so very tedious, but she made time fly by.

"Well, as fun as this is," she said with her usual insincere sarcasm, "it's late. We should get some sleep."

"Great. Your place or mine?"

She rolled her eyes, not bothering to dignify his question with a response.

He walked her back despite her objections, pointing out that he had free will, and if he just happened to be walking that direction anyway, who was she to stop him? He must give her chronic eye strain with all the eye rolling she was doing around him. All too soon they reached her door, and with his most charming smile, he wished her goodnight. What made all the studying worth it was when she actually smiled, put her hand on his shoulder and wished him good luck.

He took the test the next day, finishing first with little difficulty. The professor had stared at him oddly as he'd handed it in, checking to make sure he'd really answered them all. Fiyero fought a grin. It actually did feel good to be smart for a change. He headed to his room, wondering what to do with his newly acquired free time, until he ran into Elphaba on the way. "Hey, Elphie, wait up."

She turned, and he almost stopped when he saw that Galinda had clearly given her a makeover. Gone were the glasses that hid her pretty eyes, and her face was framed by tendrils of that beautiful hair which had escaped from the ridiculously complex updo that her roommate had inflicted upon her. "I told you to stop calling me that. I don't call you Fiyie, do I?"

He ignored her comment. "You look nice." She smiled tensely at his compliment, assuming it to be mere politeness. "No really," his hand moving to brush away a strand that must be tickling her cheek, "you look beautiful."

Awkward at the slightest praise, she pulled free, continuing to walk, and he had no choice but to fall into step beside her. "So the quiz?"

"First done," he bragged.

She gave him a look, "But you did read it carefully and answered everything?"

What was with the lack of confidence in him from everyone all of a sudden? He sighed, "Yes, I answered everything, and I even made sure the answers were right." She smiled, probably fighting back a retort and that in and of itself said something about how proud of him she was. "I aced it, thanks to you, my fascinating study queen."

She smirked, but didn't clam up like she did with most compliments. It was hard work to make sure everything could be construed as light teasing, never serious despite its accuracy. Sometimes he thought he was crazy for going to all this work when he could have anyone else with no effort. Her popular roommate, for example, hounded him often enough that many people actually thought they were dating. Why did he need to go to all this work for someone that didn't even notice him? But then Elphaba turned a smile on him, and he was certain she was worth it.

"See, I knew you could. You should really apply yourself." She continued lecturing him for a while, during which time he got to admire her without reservation all in the pretense of listening. It was a common lecture, and he felt confident even if she called him on it, he'd be able to regurgitate an appropriate response. He keyed in on the phrase, "And are you glad now that I made you study?" knowing she'd want a response.

"Very. You know, it actually felt pretty good to know the answers for a change."

"There's hope for you yet," she scoffed playfully. "So are you going to keep it up?" He hesitated, not wanting to lie to her, and she sighed unhappily. "Never mind." She turned to go, undoubtedly disappointed in his lack of conversion after one good grade.

"Hey, wait," he caught her arm. "Look, I will try, how's that?"

She gave him an appraising look for a moment, and then, deciding he was sincere, she nodded.

"So, when's my turn?" He was probably pushing it, but he was very excited about the chance to corrupt her a little. He'd been thinking about it for days now, and not being one for delayed gratification, it had been monumentally hard not to drag her kicking and screaming at the first opportunity.

"Same time next week?"

He pouted, wanting to do it sooner. "That's fine." She was worth the wait he supposed. How had this happened to him? Why was he so fascinated by the one creature that had little to no interest in him? She squeezed his shoulder in farewell, heading into her class.

As he wandered by, his professor caught his attention. "My office, three o'clock." Confused, he'd merely nodded as the professor returned to his testing students. Three o'clock came and found him waiting in the hall by the office with more than his normal share of apprehension. Usually he at least knew the offense. "Ah, Mr. Tiggular. Come in."

Fiyero came in, sitting in the chair opposite the desk. "You asked to see me, sir?"

"Yes. It's about your test. You didn't miss a single question."

He grinned proudly. It was nice to not be in trouble for a change. "Thank you sir. That's good news." He stood up, thinking the meeting over.

"Sit down." The man's face was grim, not at all congruent with the conversation thus far. "Fiyero, you have shown nothing but a complete and total apathy in your education. You don't take notes. You don't turn in assignments, and you have yet to pass an exam. So how is it that you managed to pass this one without a single mistake?"

He shifted uncomfortably, suspecting where this was going now. "Well, you see, I studied with a friend last night." It sounded weak, even to him.

"I see. One of your classmates?"

He shifted again. "Well, no sir. Her name is Elphaba..." Suddenly he regretted naming her, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble. He trailed off before her last name, knowing that would still give her little anonymity.

"Elphaba? I don't recall an Elphaba in any of my classes."

"She's not sir. She's just very bright." He smiled at the thought of how she could teach him the material for a class she wasn't even enrolled in more thoroughly than even the professor.

"How did you get the notes? You don't take any."

He shrugged. She must have gotten them somewhere, but he had no idea where. "I don't know sir," he answered honestly.

"I see." The grave tone in his voice worried Fiyero, even more so when he continued. "So let me get this straight. You're saying you managed to learn all the material from the last four weeks in one night with the help of one young lady who has never even enrolled in this course with no study materials or notes to reference, and all of this was enough to prepare you to ace the test without a single mistake in the shortest amount of time I've ever seen a student complete it in, is that right?"

He nodded nervously, fearing anything he said would only add to the ludicrousness of his assertion.

"I'm sorry Fiyero, but if you are unwilling to admit the truth, I have no choice but to punish you alone. You will receive a zero on this exam, and an incomplete for the course. You may re-enroll in the fall, and I hope you take your academics a little more seriously. I will report you to the headmistress for this, and I sincerely hope you will not try to pull a stunt like this again."

Fiyero's jaw dropped. He'd expected it to be a tough sell, but he hadn't expected such a severe punishment. "But, why? I didn't even do anything."

The sympathetic demeanor dropped away, and the professor's face was instantly angry. "Didn't do anything? That's right, you didn't. You haven't put a shred of work into anything you've done, and now you expect me to believe, what? You're some sort of idiot savant? I will not tolerate cheating, Mr. Tiggular, and as it is a clear violation of your student code of ethics, I should think you would count yourself lucky that nothing worse happens to you for this."

"Cheating? But I just told you how I…"

He was interrupted, "I don't know how you got the answers, but rest assured, I will not be swayed by your ridiculous lies about some mysterious girl tutor. I _will_ find out how you cheated, and I _will_ make sure you are punished for it. Now get out of my office before I decide to ask Madame Morrible to expel you."

Red-faced, Fiyero stood up, shaking his head as he barely suppressed the resentful words itching on the tip of his tongue.

The professor called to him as he left the office, "I hope you learned your lesson, young man."

Fiyero rolled his eyes in a great impression of Elphaba, hissing under his breath, "Oh, more than you know, professor."

* * *

AN: Thanks to aphephobicfriend, beautifully Tragic, danderson, Erikssecretlover, GraniaMhaol, Kaylle, Kitale, and TheThroppSistersandCompany for your reviews. I really appreciate the feedback.


	3. Intervention

Elphaba was furious when he finally worked up the nerve to tell her. "That old troglodyte. I can't believe he's going to fail you for doing well on a test! Who does he think he is?" She ranted for quite a while, pacing as he sat dejected on her bed, his head in his hands.

"It's my own fault," he sighed, wallowing in self-pity a bit. "I shouldn't have thought anyone would accept me as smart." She stopped, staring at him in a look that had less comfort than he would have liked. "Fine, I should have studied all along, and it wouldn't be such a shock if I did well."

She sat beside him, saying kindly, "Yeah, you probably should have."

"Gee, thanks."

"No, what I mean is, yeah you probably should have studied all along, because you _are_ smart. But that doesn't mean you don't deserve a chance to prove it now. What a prejudiced jerk to just assume you were cheating and not even listen to your side of the story!"

He took her hand, and while she winced a little, she didn't object. "Thank you. For everything. It really means a lot that at least you believe in me."

"It's nothing." She blushed and pulled away at the sincerity in his voice. She never did handle emotion well.

He knew better than to push it, standing to leave instead. "I should go. I have to see Horrible Morrible tomorrow and explain myself so I don't get expelled."

Elphaba stood too, her hand on his arm. "Do you want me to go with you? I can support your version of events." There was nothing anyone had ever said that sounded sweeter than that. She would have willingly, too. But he couldn't do that to her.

"No, I don't want you to get mixed up in all this." She started to argue but he held up his hand. "Promise me you'll stay out of it."

She rolled her eyes. "What are you going to say?"

Fiyero gave a defeated shrug. "I'll just admit to it and apologize. Promise to change my ways so I don't get expelled."

With a sharp look, she said, "You're going to lie? You're just going to let them say you cheated and not even fight it?"

Great. Now he'd disappointed her too. Wearily, he said, "Elphaba, it's the only thing they'll believe. I'd rather stay than be right. I don't want to have to leave Shiz." Fiyero knew he wasn't really a man of morals so much as a pragmatist. Morality was all subjective anyway, and he'd found most of life was a shade of gray in the middle of good and wicked. What mattered to him was not what was right or wrong, but what was best for those he cared for. And he just wasn't ready to give up a place he was finally happy at, to give up her, just for something as irrelevant as his reputation as an ethical student.

She surprised him when she actually hugged him, too quick for him to hold her. "You're not going to leave Shiz."

"I hope you're right."

"Don't worry, I am."

With an indulgent grin, he cupped her cheek. "Of course you are. I almost forgot who I was talking to."

* * *

Fiyero found himself once again outside Morrible's door, though this offense would be particularly brutal for its unfairness. He anxiously waited as his appointment came and went before finally the door opened, and Morrible ushered him in. "Well, well, Mr. Tiggular. Accused of cheating now, are we?"

He merely nodded. Guilt slid through him already at the lie he was going to tell.

With a simpering grin, Morrible asked, "I don't suppose you want to tell me your version of events?"

He shook his head, hoping it would give him an out so at least Elphaba wouldn't be quite so disappointed with him.

"I see." She gave him a shrewd, calculating look that was probably his least favorite part of these little visits, and he stared at his fingers as if to avoid her reading his thoughts. "Hmm, what to do with you?" she mused oddly. After a long moment, he shifted uncomfortably in the silence, until finally she said, "Well, it just so happens that a certain young lady came to me earlier about a grave injustice on your behalf."

His head jerked up so quickly his neck popped. "What?"

"Yes, you see, Miss Thropp was very adamant that you did not cheat, and that you were the victim of discrimination based on your unfortunate track record in poor academics. She assured me that were I to test you again, you would receive similar marks. I must say, I find the entire episode somewhat intriguing. What, Mr. Tiggular, would possess you to study so abruptly for a course that you have shown no interest in, and with another student not even enrolled in the course?"

He blushed, not answering her question for fear of revealing himself. It was pointless as undoubtedly she had already guessed.

With a knowing smile, she walked to perch on the desk in front of him. "So, Mr. Tiggular, is she right, or is she just mistakenly enamored by another rotten apple poisoning the student body?" Her unsettling grin did little to reassure him as he recognized that she wouldn't let him out of this one without answering.

With a heavy sigh, he surrendered his cover since he couldn't very well call Elphie a liar. "She's right."

Morrible smiled viciously, clearly believing him to be lying. "Oh, is she? Shall we find out?" She called for the professor and Elphaba to be brought to her office, and Fiyero wriggled under her glare. He had never felt so guilty for not doing anything wrong before.

Taking the test had been easy after a full night of studying with no distractions or pressure to succeed, but now, as Elphaba glared at his professor, who in turn glowered hatefully at him, he felt a little sheen of sweat break out as he tried to remember everything she'd taught him. The new test was much harder, no doubt a punishment to see if he really knew as much as Elphaba had claimed. He tried to focus on what he was doing, but it was so difficult with the eyes he felt boring into his back. Finally, he surrendered, the last answer marked.

He honestly had no idea how he'd done, and he wiped his hand tiredly across his eyes, passing the paper to Morrible. She grinned wickedly again, turning to Elphaba. "So you're certain your little pupil has done just as well on this test?"

"Completely," she responded with equal challenge in her voice, and he couldn't help but be a little proud at her faith in him. He was also enormously impressed with the sheer stoutness of her, to be totally unaffected by Morrible's rather intimidating presence.

"How certain? Certain enough to accept the consequences for him should he fail?"

Fiyero frowned, wondering what the woman was playing at, but Elphaba stood tall and defiant, and without a hint of uncertainty told her, "Absolutely."

"Elphaba, no," he interrupted, but neither woman listened to him.

"Fair enough," the headmistress beamed. "If he is telling the truth and has merely been the victim of his own past laziness, then he will hopefully have learned a lesson about the dangers of sloth. If, however, he was cheating, then you will have clearly aided or at the very least encouraged him, and as such, you will be expelled." Suddenly he understood. Morrible wanted to get rid of stubborn, brilliant Elphaba, and she'd never given the woman a good enough excuse. Cheating would definitely suffice. His dislike for the headmistress now officially morphed into hatred. "Think carefully, Miss Thropp. Are you certain he didn't cheat to impress you? Boys can do very stupid things when in love."

Fiyero paled, but Elphaba clearly thought it was merely more of Morrible's manipulation. Her chin high, she refused to back down. "Grade the paper."

The woman handed his test paper over to the scowling man in the corner, "Professor, if you would?"

Nervously, Fiyero watched as Elphaba's fate was decided by his relative ineptitude. The clock ticked loudly in the still office as time slowed to a crawl. After an eternity of tension, the professor said, "I don't believe it. It's impossible." Morrible scowled and ripped the paper away to see for herself. "Are you certain he didn't cheat this time?"

"He was in my office under your own supervision professor," Morrible hissed, clearly furious to have lost this little wager with her least favorite student's expulsion at sake. "Mr. Tiggular, you will receive an incomplete in this course and be transferred to another professor in the fall. Professor, you and I will talk in private."

Elphaba glared, "But he passed the test? Why does he receive an incomplete? He should get full credit."

Fiyero clamped a hand over her mouth before she could argue any further. "Thank you Madame, Professor." He pulled her out of the office before she could get herself into any additional trouble on his behalf.

Fuming, she started to pull free, ready to go fight for his grade, but he pinned her to him, forcing her to look up. "Hey, hey! What you did back there was both incredibly sweet and incredibly stupid. Promise me you will never ever do something like that again."

She crossed her arms, "I will not. Now let me go so I can go get your grade back. It's not fair."

"So what? Look, I don't deserve a good grade in that class. You even said yourself that I hadn't put any effort in, which is true. I can take it again and actually try, ok? I promise I will if you'll drop this. It's not worth you getting into trouble over."

"It's not fair," she repeated stubbornly.

"Please Elphie?" He unleashed his secret weapon – his puppy dog eyes. No one had ever withstood them before, and though she rolled her eyes, miraculously even she fell victim to them.

"Don't call me that," she surrendered, shrugging him off and taking a step away from the headmistress's office.

He fought the urge to hug her after her impressive support in the face of Morrible. "Okay, look, it's been a rough day. What say you we bump up our next lesson as a reward for passing the test twice? It'll be fun, I promise."

She sighed at his wheedling, but reluctantly agreed.

"Great. I don't know about you, but that was much more stressful than most tests. I could use a little distraction," he winked at her as she pouted over his restriction to not barge in and champion his rights. He let his arm drop around her as he led her away from the office quickly before this luck of his ran out.


	4. All Life is but a Dance

Fiyero tried not to fidget as the clock ticked in slow motion. Right as the second hand reached the hour, Elphaba knocked, and he chuckled at the idea of her waiting outside his door until she was obligated to arrive. Her frown didn't lessen his spirits in the slightest; after all, he'd craved dancing with her ever since that night at the Ozdust. She was simply so very terrible, and yet headstrong, brave, and completely unintimidated. It made a perfect blend of impressive and adorable, and he couldn't help but admire how Elphaba could command respect so easily even at her worst.

She'd opted to hide away in his room rather than expose her ineptitude in a public building, and as such, he'd had to move all the furniture out of the way. She said nothing, her eyes inspecting his room, and he was suddenly glad he'd also taken the opportunity to clean somewhat. It took him a moment to recognize the oddly foreign anxiety on her face. Elphaba was never nervous – annoyed by him, disgusted by him, frustrated with him, sure, but never nervous.

He grinned, greeting her. "So, you ready to dance?" She nodded reluctantly. "Are you wearing that?"

"Why? What's wrong with it?"

The conservative frock was hardly the dress of his dreams, but perhaps he could talk her into something better next time. Her legs would barely have room to move. "It just looks a little…restrictive."

"Oh." She seemed disappointed, so he quickly squeezed her arm.

"It's fine. What music do you prefer? Waltz? Swing? Slow dance?" He wriggled his eyebrows, and she rolled her eyes. The familiarity of their routine eye gestures was so comforting, as if it were itself a private joke.

"It's your lesson; what do you advise?" Her brusque tone would almost fool him if she didn't keep avoiding his eyes.

"Shall we waltz? It's fairly simple." With her shrug as consent, he set the music and held out a hand.

Elphaba stared at his hand like a viper, "I don't know how."

"Well that, my dear," he took her hand anyway, pulling her toward him, "is why I'm going to teach you." She stiffened at that sudden closeness, and he smiled at her, his other hand sliding to her waist. "We'll start with just walking. I want you to move where I lead you. Just relax and follow where you think my body language is directing you." He caught a subtle blush at the word 'body' and smiled. "You'll be fine," he assured her.

She was about to argue, but he took a couple steps forward, to which she naturally backed up. He slid his hand higher to her shoulder blade for better communication, and then subtly led her through a circuit of sideways, back and forth moves. "Relax," he admonished, and as he suspected, it was rather difficult for her to allow him to lead. She was not exactly the type of girl used to being a follower.

Eventually she got the hang of it, and as she learned to read his cues better, she began to loosen up. Though he tried to praise her, his encouragement only seemed to make her more self-conscious, so when the song ended, he simply squeezed her hand rather than embarrass her with further compliments.

"Ok, now we'll add the steps." He demonstrated for her a few times, and after she had mastered the basics herself, he slid her back in his arms. Immediately, she tensed again, and as he led her around the floor, she pulled away, trying to lead him. He chuckled lightly, not at all surprised by her need for control, and she glared at him accusingly.

"What?" She tried to look fierce, but her obvious anxiety undermined the intimidation. He caught a flicker of her vulnerability, and it only made him smile all the more. Unfortunately, she misinterpreted his widening grin, and with an angry huff, she pulled out of his embrace. "That's it. I'm leaving."

"Hey," he snagged her hand as she tried to run away, "come on; don't go. I'm sorry." She stopped struggling reluctantly.

"Fiyero, I … can't do it."

"Of course you can," he said, his other hand set on her shoulder reassuringly. "You can do anything, Elphaba. You can figure out complex assignments. You can make people fly across the room. You can probably change the entire world if you decided to. Compared to that, what's a little dance?" She gave him a skeptical look. Perhaps he had overdone it a bit with that last part. He changed tactics, "Believe me, if an idiot like me can dance, you can."

"You're not an idiot," she argued. "You're just lazy."

"And you're just giving up." Her mouth dropped open as she eyed him angrily, but he held his ground. There was a long beat where he wondered if he'd pushed too far, but finally, she flushed.

"You're right. Let's try again."

He pulled her back to him, a little closer this time as a reward for winning their argument. Beautiful though she might be, she felt like dancing with a wooden beam, all rigid and uncooperative. She really was adorable as she stumbled awkwardly through the steps, trying so hard to sneak a look at her feet before he caught her and turned her chin up to face him.

"Trust me, it's better if you don't look down now. Then you'll never have to break the habit."

She nodded, and he thought how he'd never seen someone concentrate so hard on dancing. It was as if the perfectionist in her was screaming at her inexperience. He rubbed an encouraging thumb over the hand he held, and she jumped, her misplaced step landing hard on his left foot. Her eyes grew gigantic at his wince, and once again she tried to pull away.

"I told you. I'm terrible, Fiyero."

"Hey, hey, stop that," he squeezed her tighter before she escaped again. "You're doing fine. You're just trying too hard."

She avoided his eyes, and he shook her lightly to draw her attention back. She sighed at his playful gesture, but managed to meet his eyes. "Fine," she acquiesced, "but it's hard to relax when I don't know how to do it."

He shrugged, "Just do what comes naturally."

She started to pull away, answering his stern face with, "What? That's what comes naturally to me." She crossed her arms insecurely, and he softened.

"Come here," he said, smiling at her tenderly.

Her eyes darted side to side, "I _am_ here."

He ignored her and slid his hand down to her waist, pulling her flush against him. Her other hand was trapped on his chest rather than his shoulder, and he hoped she hadn't noticed how his pulse spiked when she turned her wide eyes up at him. "Just trust me," he breathed into her hair, her eyes involuntarily closing. "Go where I go. Don't fight it. Let go, and let it happen."

She nodded as a different kind of tension rippled through the air. He took a few small steps, and she matched him well. As she relaxed, her motions became fluid and blended with his. He allowed himself a moment to revel in how fantastic it felt to move with her against him, to be so close that he could smell her shampoo and feel the ends of her hair tickling his wrist on her waist. He broadened the steps and whirled them around the floor. As he spun her out, he grinned at her gasp of surprise.

Elphaba smiled shyly as he spun her back into him, and he immediately vowed to recreate that smile by any means necessary. Striding across the floor, he discovered she was actually quite graceful when she allowed herself to be. He spun her, and spun her, and spun her until she was actually giggling at his antics. He had never imagined she could giggle, and like that sweet coyness of hers, he found he desperately needed more of it. "See, I told you that you were good at it," he said, loving the broad smile that spread across her face as she replied in denial.

The song ended, and for a final smile, he pulled her into an overdramatic dip. He beamed as she laughed out loud at his silliness, and she even threw her head back which gave him a nice view of her long, beautiful throat. Both of them were laughing at themselves now, relaxed and happy, until he pulled her up from the dip.

Suddenly they realized how close they were, and the smiles faded from their faces. He swallowed nervously, her hands still braced against his chest and his head still turned to grin down at her. If she just inclined her head slightly, their lips would meet, and a thousand fantasies erupted in his mind at that realization. The only movement for a bit was the rapid blinking of her eyelids, as if she was testing the reality of the world around her.

Time stayed frozen long enough for him to drink in how her body leaned perfectly into his, how his hand was still wrapped around one of hers even as it was pillowed on his chest, how the hand on her waist had drifted to the small of her back. If he just pulled her lightly with that hand, he could taste those mesmerizing lips of hers. The air buzzed around them as if electrified by their mutual paralysis.

Her eyes darted around the room frantically, and he knew this was a very bad idea. He should pull back. It was the right thing to do. Neither of them was ready for this. Yes, he would let go now and joke about the fun they'd had, make her comfortable again so they could dance another time. Why wasn't he moving?

She lifted her eyes to him cautiously, and he realized his traitorous hand had pressed her slightly closer without his attention. His breath caught as their eyes met, and he noticed her release the lip she had been biting.

Before the odd momentum could carry them further, his door was thrown open. Avaric carelessly walked in, momentarily oblivious to Elphaba's presence as he teased Fiyero for something inane. By the time his intruder did look up, Fiyero felt certain that she would have moved away, but their paralysis seemed absolute. Avaric looked up, stopping mid-sentence to stare at the sight of Elphaba in Fiyero's arms. "What are you doing?" he eyed them curiously, and it was as if his words broke the spell.

As they rocketed away from each other, Elphaba stammered defensively, "We were just dancing. Fiyero was teaching me. I haven't done it before. It was just dancing."

Avaric looked taken aback by her response, "Oh…kay." He shot a glance toward Fiyero, who was now working hard at avoiding Avaric's eyes as he struggled to regain that practiced nonchalance of his. Fiyero busied himself quickly by fussing with the music, so Avaric returned his conversation awkwardly back to Elphaba. "Well, how do you like it?"

"I don't," she protested readily. "Fiyero made me. I don't like dancing. I like books." She crossed her arms, as if daring Avaric to challenge her statement.

Her protestations were so overdone that Fiyero couldn't find it in himself to be offended. Instead, he merely smiled to himself before turning to face Avaric. "What did you need, Avaric?"

Avaric tossed a glance at Elphaba before answering, "I just wondered if you wanted to come to the bar with us if, you know, you're not too _busy._"

Elphaba blushed insanely, declaring, "I was just about to leave anyway. I really have a lot of work to do." She gave Fiyero a harried goodbye over her shoulder as she fled.

Fiyero ran a hand through his hair, and Avaric laughed. "So you're giving out dancing lessons now, huh?" He adopted a high-pitched parody of a girl's voice, "Oh, Fiyero," he half-fell against Fiyero in a mock swoon, "will you teach _me_ to dance, too?"

"Oh, shut up," Fiyero shrugged off his friend's good-natured teasing, and he knew without a doubt it was going to be a long night once Avaric told the guys at the bar. He caught sight of Elphaba's forgotten shawl and smiled. She was worth it.


	5. Don't Know Much About History

It had been a long, long week for Fiyero. With his new free period, he'd attempted studying on his own in the hopes Elphaba would consent to periodic dancing practice in addition to his chosen lessons. His vaguely concocted plan was to lure her into his favorite pastime with a competition or some other plausible excuse, but this was the foundation for all his later handiwork. He turned another dusty, boring page in his history book. She was worth it, he repeated to himself as he focused on the way she had laughed in his arms. She was worth it.

He checked the clock and grinned. Finally, it was Thursday afternoon. He gathered his books, shoving them into his bag as he half-flew from the library. It was odd. He'd always expected to see her there, but either she was very good at avoiding him or he had severely misinterpreted her use of free time. Regardless, she would be in class, which was starting any moment now.

Fiyero dropped into the chair behind her and whispered in her ear, "So what're we doing tonight?"

After she jumped nearly twelve feet in the air, she spun around and scolded, "Fiyero! What are you doing, sneaking up on me like that? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He blinked his puppy-dog eyes at her, and she rolled her own. "Oh, don't give me that. Go pester someone else. I'm busy."

"But it's Thursday," he said, his eyes widening at her dismissal on their sacred day.

"And?"

He couldn't believe she had forgotten. "Thursday's our day."

"I wasn't aware we had a day. When was this decided?"

She was lying. Had to be. He gave her a suspicious look, and just barely he caught the flush that spread across her cheeks. "It's your turn. What time should I pick you up?"

"I can't tonight. We'll just have to skip it."

"What? Why? We can't just skip it. I had to wait all week for Thursday."

She seemed a little surprised at the extremity of his reaction, but he couldn't help feeling distinctly now like she was avoiding him. "I don't have a lesson to teach you," she said brusquely, repressing her slight smile back into a scowl, and whirled back to face the front as class began.

He leaned forward to whisper directly in her ear, "That's ok. I have plenty of lessons for you." He imagined he caught a shiver but she glared over her shoulder as she shushed him. "Was it something I said?" he teased, letting his breath stir the delicate hairs that tickled her temple. "Look, you know I'm going to keep at it until you tell me what time tonight. If you really want me to leave you alone, all you have to do is say when."

Resignedly, she tossed over her shoulder, "Fine. Seven-thirty." He barely caught her soft, "You never give up, do you?"

With a gentle squeeze to her shoulder, he said, "I learned from the best, Elphie."

"Don't call me that."

He couldn't help but grin. "But you are the best Elphie." She sighed in frustration as he chuckled.

* * *

Seven-thirty found him lounging outside her door with Galinda's date. Every so often they would hear a loud bang or a girlish squeal, and the two boys would share a terrified look. But the door was locked, so whatever horrors awaited within, the girls would have to fend for themselves.

By the time Galinda opened the door some twenty minutes later, Fiyero had already started dozing off despite the odd noises. The other boy nudged him as the blonde beamed from the doorway. "Huh? Oh, is Elphaba ready?" he yawned.

Galinda only giggled, eyed him for a second and vanished back into the room with a click as the lock snapped back into place.

"Galinda, for the last time, it's not a date. Just let me go already!" Elphaba howled from inside, and Fiyero had to swallow a laugh. "What does it matter what color he's wearing? No! You just spent an hour doing _this_ makeup. You are _not_ starting over so we coordinate."

There were more sounds of struggle, and suddenly the door was thrown open as a very disheveled Elphaba raced over and grabbed Fiyero's arm. "Ready?" he asked unnecessarily.

Galinda tottered out in hot pursuit, her own carefully constructed appearance now thrown into complete disarray, and she flashed the boys a beaming smile before she latched onto Elphaba's arm to haul her back. "Not quite. Give us just a second."

Elphaba shook the girl off and darted around to Fiyero's other side. "Let's go. Now!" He laughed as she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him backwards in front of her like some human shield. Once they had reached a reasonable distance, she spun on her heel and tugged on his hand. "Run!" She dragged him after her halfway across campus before collapsing into a bench outside the cafeteria, panting.

"What was all that about?" he asked, fighting not to laugh.

She blinked at him through highly mascara-encrusted lashes. "As if you couldn't guess."

He took in her miserable face for a second. "Come on. I have a present for you." She flashed him a suspicious look, but followed him back to his room without comment. "Close your eyes," he said as he led her to the center of his room. "Now hold out your hand."

"This better not be alive," she threatened, "or gooey."

He laughed, placing the bottle in her outstretched palm. "Ok. Open them." Her face was priceless as she squinted at the unfamiliar bottle and read the writing. Then her face broke open into a dazzling smile.

"Makeup remover?"

"I had a feeling," he confessed. "It was really only a matter of time given your roommate."

"Oh, I could kiss you!" She blurted out before realizing what she'd said. Her face flushed under the thick makeup.

He flashed a cocky grin and winked. "I won't stop you."

One characteristic eye roll later, and Elphaba was busily ensconced in his bathroom removing Galinda's handiwork. He called through the door to ask what she wanted for dinner and ordered it for delivery. It was such a homey scene, and his mind wandered to fantasies of her living with him. She could almost be brushing her teeth before crawling into bed in just his T-shirt.

When she opened the door, her freshly scrubbed face peeking out from above exactly the shirt he had pictured, he found his mouth drop open. Oz, she was beautiful. "I hope you don't mind," she misinterpreted his gaping. "I think I ruined this one, and I saw this just sitting there so…"

He hushed her with a finger on her lips. "It's fine. It looks better on you anyway." She shifted uncomfortably, so he gave her some space. "So, what's the lesson tonight, Teach?" Her face hardened, so he asked, "What?"

"I don't know about these lessons," she said.

He rushed in nervously, "What's bothering you? Is it the dancing? Look, I'm sorry if I…"

"No, it's not that," she cut him off. "The dancing was…fun," she admitted with reluctance. "I just don't think it's a good idea anymore."

He led her to sit on the opposite end of his bed. "Why? Did something happen?" She was silent for a moment, and he leaned forward in concern and took her hand. "You know you can tell me, right?"

"I just don't think I'm doing you any good." She studied the pattern of his blanket.

"Elphaba, of course you are. Hell, I've even been studying all week, for History no less, and I don't have a test for three weeks." She looked up in surprise, and the proud look in her eyes renewed his resolve to work harder in his academics. "You're doing me tons of good. How can you think you're not? Just look at how you helped me with that test."

"Yeah, look at that. I almost got you expelled," she hissed as she pulled her hands free and turned her back to him. "Everything good I try to do ends up causing more problems than before. I'm a curse"

He set his hands on her shoulders, "Oh, Elphaba, that's not true at all. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I-" The knock on the door shocked them both until Fiyero remembered their dinner. Grudgingly, he pulled back to answer the door.

By the time he turned back to her, she had hardened again. "Look, I really don't have a lesson picked. We can just skip mine this week if you don't mind."

"Well I do mind," he bumped her shoulder lightly. "I need my weekly dose of Elphaba wisdom." She smiled and though she obviously wanted to, she didn't argue. "Look, if you don't have something planned, will you do a request?"

"A request?"

"Yeah. You know what I've always wanted to learn?" he had her hooked now as she stared at him curiously. "History."

Her eyebrows lifted, "Since when?"

"Oh well, I was thinking more specifically. Can you teach me about the mysterious nature and history of a certain Elphaba Thropp?"

She rolled her eyes. "You are thoroughly incorrigible."

"That's why you love me," he teased, dropping his head to her shoulder and spearing a bite of her food. She shook her head and huffed in disbelief before resting her head on his. "Pickle?" he offered, holding it out.

"You do realize you're insane, right?" she laughed at his random subject change.

"What, you don't like pickles? See, I'm learning already."

* * *


	6. A Rose By Any Other Name

"A week is too long," Fiyero whined as Elphaba tried to dodge away from him through the crowded cafeteria. "It's seven whole days."

"Yes, I am familiar with the term," Elphaba tossed over her shoulder before rocketing through a gap.

"But, Elphie, come on. It's like forever."

"No," she sighed as he managed to catch up and pull her to an empty table before she could resist. "Forever is like forever. A week is merely a week."

"How philosophical," he grinned. "That's what I love about you, Elphie, you're so deep."

She sighed heavily. "Must you call me that?"

"What, Elphie? Why not?" He was aware that she was diverting the subject, but he often wondered why she protested it so much.

She brushed her hair back from her face as she peeled her orange. "It's so bubbly, so … blonde," she made a face, no doubt recalling the regiment of blonde clones strewn after her roommate. "And it has altogether too many E's."

He laughed, "Well, what do you want me to call you? I'm fairly certain any pet name would disgust you, right sweetie-pie?" Her expression more than confirmed his belief.

"You know, there is always my name. I assume all three syllables aren't too much for you to handle. Or if so, 'you' is fine with me." She had assumed a defensive pose, but Fiyero knew she enjoyed their game as much as he did.

Mischief lit his face. "Oh, Elphie. Such grammar! You _are_ fine to me." She stared at him a moment as if wondering if he was being deliberately dense, and he struggled not to laugh at his own pun. She was right. He was so easily entertained.

"Keep it up, funny boy, and you'll see what happens when you ask for favors."

His amusement vanished, and in its place, he gave her his best conciliatory face. "I'm sorry, Elphaba. So what do you want your nickname to be, then?"

"I think," she screwed up her face in concentration and tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Elphaba."

"Ha, ha. Not funny," he pouted. "Come on. I have to have a nickname for you. You let Galinda call you a nickname. And Nessa."

"She's my sister, and hers is just babytalk," Elphaba crossed her arms, but her blush gave her away. "I don't know how you even know about that anyway."

He grinned, "Boq told me."

She grunted, "Well, that's one dead munchkin on my plate for tonight. I'd better get going. Class starts soon." She dumped the remains of her half-eaten lunch in the trash and stood to walk to class, but he caught her wrist.

"Elphaba, come on. Please? If I can't call you Elphie, can I call you Fabala then?"

She whirled around, eyes wide and cheeks red. Her eyes flicked around to see if anyone had heard him, but luckily the entire lunchroom was still buzzing in their own atmospheres. "Absolutely not!" she hissed, and she wrenched her arm out of his grip as began weaving her way toward the exit.

He trailed after her, "Faba?"

"No. I'm going to be late." She shifted her books from one side to the other, desperation growing in her face.

"So we can pick later then?" With an aggrieved sigh, she nodded. "Great," he beamed, "We can talk about it when we meet for lessons tomorrow."

"Fiyero…" She started to argue, but he tapped his watch. She grunted her annoyance and stalked off.

"And don't kill Boq," he called after her. "I kinda like that kid."

* * *

The next evening found him flopped across his bed staring up at the ceiling as she sat on the floor beside it. "What about Ba?" He tossed a wad of paper in the air that had a half dozen proposed nicknames scrawled across it.

"Ba?" she asked incredulously. "Really, that's the best you could do?"

"What? You already shot down Elphie, Fabala, Faba, Bafa, Elba, Elpha, and Sue."

She shook her head, rustling his sheets. "I still don't understand that one. Sue?"

He shrugged as he tossed the wad again to graze the plaster of his ceiling. "I heard about a boy named Sue, and thought it was a pretty name."

"You are so ridiculous," she caught the wad when it fell again. "Is this really all we're going to do?"

He rolled over on his stomach to leer at her. "Why, you got something else in mind?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. She sighed and shoved his face back. "Well, you know the sooner we pick a nickname for you, the sooner we can start your lesson."

She groaned loudly. "What kind of incentive is that?" He rolled back over to consider the ceiling.

"What about Fa? It's only two letters, and it's part of several songs."

"If I say fine, can you get off me?" His eyebrows drew together for a minute until he figured out he had half-slid off the bed and on top of her while trying to reach his last throw.

He grinned. "Probably not. You're comfy." She elbowed him in the ribs, drawing an 'oomph' as he toppled the rest of the way to the ground. "Fine. Fa it is."

"Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?" He just beamed at her.

"So," he sat up and forced a sober expression on his face. "I thought since I picked my lesson last week, you could pick yours this week. So, what do you want to learn? I'll warn you that if it's anything academic, I'm going to tackle you." He half hoped she would call his bluff.

She laughed, "Why don't we keep with the same idea? Teach me all about the mysterious Fiyero."

"Well, that's boring. You already know everything important or interesting about me. I think everything I haven't told you, Galinda has."

She smirked. "Oh no, I just stole her manual: _The_ _Care and Feeding of Wild Fiyeros_. That will teach her to leave it lying around."

He flopped bonelessly onto the floor. "What else? Something physical. I'm getting restless."

"You know, coming from anyone else I'd take offense to that," she said as her eyebrows rose.

He screwed up his face in confusion until he realized what he had said, and for once he was the one blushing. "Yes, well, Freudian slip. What do you say we get physical, Fa?" She winced at the name. "You really hate it don't you?"

"Yes, well, I hated you and Galinda at first, too. Maybe I just have to get used to it." He grinned to think that she would tough it out for him.

"Well, if you hate it, let's make it really annoying." She looked at him oddly, and he smiled. "I'll add one of those E's you hate so much."

"Fa-e?"

"Fae." Then he gasped, "Oh, think of all the great rhymes it will make: Day, pay, stay, bay, lay." He wiggled his eyebrows at her again, but she sighed. He continued his barrage of rhyming words, now combined in awful lyrics like, "I'll get my way, with you someday, and we'll have trays in vast array." She shoved him, and he tickled her until she got away, lying beside him now.

"I still don't see why you can't just call me my name."

He tucked a hair behind her ear. "Why not? A rose by any other name..." She shrugged him away with a disgusted noise and shook her head at his cheesiness. Then she sat up.

"There is actually something I've wanted to learn that you could probably teach me." He sat up at once, mimicking her attention. She seemed awkward, and he found himself praying she wanted him to teach something involving her lips or better yet, the removal of her clothing. "Could you teach me to fight?"

He blinked at her. "Fight? Why? You already seem like you could hold your own." His eyes narrowed, "You're not planning anything stupid are you?"

"Of course not!" She glared, "I resent that implication."

He caught her hand before its wild gesturing could knock over anything. "Ok, alright. I should have known. You're not the stupid type, right?"

"That's right." She nodded forcefully, and he smiled.

"Stubborn, hotheaded, and feisty. Definitely not the type to start a fight." She didn't appreciate his sarcasm, so he adopted a more serious tone. "Is this about your magic again?"

She stiffened and turned away. He gave her time until she was ready to say, "If I didn't lose my temper, I wouldn't cause any more…accidents."

"And how exactly does fighting help with not losing your temper?"

She shrugged. "I just thought…if I had another outlet…"

"Like practicing how to fight…," he took up, nodding, "Okay, that makes sense." He repressed other images his brain created of a physical outlet for her. "Sure, I'll teach you how to fight."

"Do you," she blushed, "have you been in a lot of fights?"

He shrugged. "Not too many. More when I was younger, and even stupider than I am now. But I can hold my own." After a moment, he hauled himself to his feet, offering her a hand to do likewise. "Okay, stand up. Let's see. I guess we could start with punches."

He moved behind her and gave directions for her stance and the like. Wrapping his hand around hers, he showed her the best angle, and how to hold her hands in a relaxed blocking pose. She shifted a little, and he tried to distance himself from how her body felt against his.

"Okay, now you want to step and lean into the punch," he said, guiding her. "But not that much," he laughed as she almost toppled them forward. He adjusted her thumb and with a few more minor alterations in form, she seemed to get the hang of it pretty well. He moved in front of her. "Alright now hit me."

She faltered, "Fiyero…"

"Fae, it's fine. I can handle it. Just …don't hit in the face or groin okay?" She laughed, and he smiled. "On 3." She nodded, focusing intently on his abdomen. "One…two…three," her punch came out strong but crooked, and he absorbed it easily. "Okay, rotate your wrist a little more that way."

She shook her fist out with a grimace. "I thought that was supposed to hurt you, not me."

He smiled and rubbed her thumb lightly, "It will. You're just not used to it yet. Here, let's try again." She threw a few more punches, each time her aim and form improving, until Fiyero laughed. "Oh, I see. This was all an elaborate plan to punch me, wasn't it?"

"How could you guess?" she teased back.

He leaned in, "Oh, you're laughing now. What happens when I fight back?"

She gave him a superior look, "Am I supposed to be afraid?"

He smirked, and without warning, tackled her to his bed. She punched his shoulder a couple times, but he easily pinned her underneath him. She wriggled free, panting, and they grappled for a moment as she tried to get the advantage on him. On his back underneath her, he grinned at her proud smile. "Looks like you caught me. Now what are you going to do with me?"

"I've been trying to figure that out for years," she rejoined, and he flipped them so she lay below him. She made an indignant sound as she struggled to free herself, but he only laughed and leaned in closer.

"I can give you a couple ideas Elphie," he whispered in her ear seductively, and for a second he imagined she arched against him. His eyes fluttered half-closed as he felt the warmth of her body under his own.

Then he felt a hard jab to his ribs, and she pushed him off her. He rolled onto his back, holding his side and moaning. "Silly Fiyero," she straddled him, pinning him down easily though between the pain in his side and the pleasant sight of her, he wasn't really complaining. She held his wrists by his ears, gloating, "I win. And you should really learn to not call me that."

He thrust his neck out and caught her ear gently between his teeth. She gasped, falling against him, and he released her ear to breathe into it, "I'd say I'm really winning, wouldn't you? And that brings me to our next lesson – when it's okay to bite your opponent." Her eyes fluttered open, and she scowled at him as she rolled off. "Spoilsport. I was enjoying that."

She rolled her eyes. "I should have picked algebra."

"Aw, where's the fun in that?"


	7. Bargaining

Fiyero groaned. "Please tell me you're joking. I really have to do this?"

Elphaba didn't quite suppress her grin as she nodded calmly. His head flopped onto the desk with a thud. "Why, Fae, why? Is this still about that biting thing? Look, I said I'm sorry." Her grin widened, but she forced it back into a stern expression.

"Fiyero, it's my turn. Are you a man of your word, or not?"

He lifted his face, but only to shoot a glare at her low blow. "Taking Galinda shopping is NOT a lesson. It's a cruel and unusual punishment."

"So was that kickboxing lesson yesterday." The kink in her neck drew a groan as she rubbed helplessly at it. "I'm going to be sore for weeks."

He laid his face upturned on his arm to leer at her, "When you say it like that, it sounds so dirty."

"Lecher."

"I wouldn't be such a lecher if you weren't such a temptress."

She rolled her eyes, "Say what you want; you're not getting out of this."

He catapulted himself up, eyes frantically wide and begging now. "Are you serious? Come on, Elphaba. Please? Surely there's something else…anything else. Can't you just shoot me or something?"

He knew the instant that wicked smile slid across her face that he was in trouble. "Anything?" With an audible gulp, he nodded. "Alright, I'm listening."

Ooh, he got to bargain? She never let him bargain with her. Grinning, he bounced to his feet, taking her hand in his. "I could get rid of that kink in your neck for you." The relief that flashed before she could hide it told him that he was on the right track. "In fact, I'll be like your masseuse slave for…a month?" Her smile widened. "Just think of it," he slid his arm around her shoulders, "I'll be at your beck and call. Crook your neck reading too many books at 2 a.m., I'm there. Get tired of carrying that heavy backpack across the entire campus, I'm there. Pull a muscle beating up one of those pathetic idiots that is mentally deranged enough to make fun of you, I'm there." She was actually considering it. He flashed the most charming smile he could manage, until she rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Alright. But you've got to con someone else into taking her, because I'm sure not going to."

"Done." That was easy. Manipulating brainless, popularity-starved coeds was his old pastime.

"And you have to help me with my Animal Rights work."

He groaned, but when she fluttered her eyes in imitation of a certain blonde, he realized there was a worse fate at risk. "Fine."

Her smile turned carnivorous, and it was then that he reconsidered who he was dealing with. Maybe Galinda wouldn't be so bad. He gulped audibly at her expression as she asked, "Just how badly do you not want to do this?"

Flashes of his past role as doting boyfriend on numerous and extensive trips to the dressagons came to mind. He would be damned before he held another purse while forced to answer if skinny little Galinda looked fat in a poofy dress that could hide a hippo. As he visibly winced, he could swear Elphaba suppressed another sly smile.

Fiyero leaned forward until he was supporting himself with an arm on either side of her, and for a second he allowed himself to enjoy occupying so much of her personal space without injury. Holding her eyes, he deadpanned, "Anything else."

For a second she just blinked at him, and a thousand very unlikely scenarios flew into his fantasy before that sexy, wicked smile of hers faded back. She leaned up to whisper in his ear, unnecessarily as they were quite alone, and his eyes flew shut. If he were capable of thought at the moment, he would have been surprised at the movement, and he'd have wondered what she was up to. _If_ he had been capable of thought. Instead, he lost himself in her breath on his neck and her hair in his face. It was all he could do not to gasp out loud or push her below him and strip her clothes off right there on the desk as her lips only just brushed his ear.

Barely, he registered the words she whispered in his ear, but it was enough to pull him back and drain all the blood from his face. He pulled back to stare at her with a mix of renewed respect, awe and even a little fear. "Not that. Come on Fae, not that."

This was how he came to find himself hiding in his own bathroom. He liked to think he was a brave guy, and downright shameless when it came down to it, but as he caught his reflection in the mirror, even he blushed.

"I'm not coming out," he called through the door, only to hear her snort with laughter.

"I'll skip the obvious and say, isn't that my line?"

"Oh, ha, ha." He crossed his arms. She might be amazing, but she was also downright infuriating at times. "You'd be a lot funnier if you weren't trying to torture me."

"Hey, this got you out of shopping, didn't it?" Damn her for being right. He sighed, opening the door reluctantly so that only his head poked out. She smirked, "Come on, it can't be that bad. Just get out here."

So she wasn't going to give up until he was completely mortified, huh? He took a deep breath and plunged into the room with more bravado than he felt. Her eyes wandered up and down him, and he would have quite enjoyed that had she not been muffling laughter the entire time. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. I look ridiculous."

She crossed the room to him, closer than he'd expected, and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He thought for a second she was going to tell him that he looked fine, or couldn't look ridiculous if he tried, or some such line that undoubtedly he'd used on her after suffering one of her roommate's makeovers, but she merely smirked. "Yeah, you really do."

He glared at her and wrapped his arms around her waist to trap her next to him. "So do I get to dress you up in whatever I want next time?"

To his surprise, she laughed. Her hands slid down his chest, and she leaned up to his ear again. He held his breath rather than let it betray him as she whispered, "Oh, Fiyero." Shivers coursed through him at his name in that sexy voice. "You wish."

Then she slid back with an evil grin, and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh, that is it!" He launched himself after her despite his awkwardly exposing attire. "You are soooo dead." She cackled in response, laughing so hard that she tumbled onto his bed. He fell onto her as she collapsed and took his revenge in tickles. She had turned into quite the brave little flirt tonight, no doubt due to his less than imposing state in this costume of ultra-tight tights, but he was loving every second of it.

"Yero," she croaked under him, "get off me. I can't breathe."

He rolled onto his back and pulled her against him. "Well that's what you get now, isn't it?" She merely laughed again, and for a moment, he held her with nothing but their softening giggles to break the stillness. Then she tilted her face up at him, and his breath caught yet again. Automatically, he leaned closer, her lips a tempting invitation to trouble that he was not planning to pass up, until she hiccupped a final laugh.

"Ready to go?"

He pulled back to stare in her eyes. "Are you serious? You really expect me to go out in public dressed like this?" Parading around and making an ass of himself in front of her was one thing. Doing it in front of the whole student body was quite the other.

She sat up, suddenly stern. "Of course! How else are you supposed to help with my project? That was the deal, remember? And I hope you practiced your part."

His mouth worked uselessly gaping in the air. "But…Elphie, come on, have a heart?"

Crossing her arms, she replied, "Don't call me that. And you agreed to this. Come on, it can't be worse than shopping with Galinda."

Oz, the things he did for the women in his life. He stood up. "Fine. But you owe me at least an extra dance or so."

She smiled as he came to join her. "Deal." He paused at the door, squaring his shoulders and trying hard not to think how the entire world would now know far more than they should about his you-know-who. She caught his arm and turned him to face her. "Fiyero, I didn't mean it." He tilted his head at her in confusion so she continued, "You don't look stupid."

"I don't?" a small smile sneaking its way onto his face.

She blushed. "No, you look," she paused here to bite her lip, "you look alright." It was now a full-blown grin spreading across his cheeks. She rolled her eyes at his expression and slid through the door without another hesitation or comfort.

Cocky, he strode out and met the shocked stares and whistles with an arrogant nod. She thought he was hot.


	8. A Slave For You

Having escaped the whole tight escapade with only mild wounds to his pride, Fiyero was excited to have another turn at her socialization. He plotted for a fair return to her shopping bargains, but so far he'd come up with a blank. He decided to stall, and maybe he could get two nights with her for the price of one.

She came in stiffly, hand sneaking up to rub her neck when she thought he wasn't watching. He rolled his eyes. "You know, you're going to offend your masseuse slave."

She blushed. "What?"

He refused to be pulled in. "Get over here." He brought her to sit in front of him on the bed, and slowly ran his hands over her neck and shoulders. She tensed at the contact, so he said conversationally, "So what's my next lesson, guru?"

She laughed, and her voice rumbled beneath his hands, "I don't know. Maybe I'll torture you with cooking or something."

"I love to cook," his fingers migrated up her neck to her scalp.

She was taken aback when she said, "Really? I'd have thought you complained it wasn't masculine enough."

He pulled her shoulders back to face him, albeit upside down. "Hey, I have no problems with my masculinity, thank you very much." She chuckled and acquiesced with a nod which he accepted with a grin. There was a pause while he worked out the kinks in her left shoulder, drawing a soft sigh of relief out of her. "I'd love to cook for you sometime."

Her blush crept up the back of her neck, and he smiled to himself. She didn't respond, but as his fingers worked relaxation into her muscles, she started to loosen up and lean into him, her breathy sighs now bordering on moans. He let his fingers wander through her hair on the pretense of moving it out of the way, and damn him if it wasn't softer than the finest Vinkan silk. It really was unfair what she could do to him.

"You know," his voice a husky, deep tone lower than normal, "I could do a better job on your back if you took your shirt off."

She tossed him a look over her shoulder that echoed the suspicion in her words. "Riiiiight. I'm sure you could."

"Really." He gave her his best boy scout face. "I promise not to behave inappropriately." She hesitated, so he let his thumbs trail down her spine. "Besides, doesn't this feel good?" He caught the breathy sigh she fought as his hands fanned out and to her waist.

"You promise you'll behave?" He nodded. "And you won't try to look or touch anything that," she blushed a bright crimson now, "you know, you shouldn't."

"Of course." Had he actually managed to talk her into this?

"Fine. Turn around."

"Really?" Was this a joke? Surely as soon as he turned around someone would pants him or the like.

"Yes, really. I trust you." A sentimental shadow crept over his face as she said that, and she suddenly looked self-conscious. "Why, should I not trust you?"

"No, no! You can trust me." He took her hand and promised solemnly, "You can always trust me, Fae, always." Her trust was unbelievably precious to him, and not just because she was herself precious beyond measure. She was always so guarded, so suspicious that her trust was a rare compliment, and like most rare and hard-won things, her trust was so fiercely beautiful in its tremendous strength that it was worth every moment spent earning it. She might as well have told her that she loved him (albeit in an unfortunately platonic way).

He stayed staring at her tenderly until she physically turned him around by his shoulders. It was all he could do not to peek, and when she gave him the okay to turn around, he almost had to excuse himself at the sight of her long, bare torso nestled against his own pillows and sheets. He swallowed.

Fiyero let his eyes wander over her as he managed to pull in a deep breath, but he stared at her open-mouthed for so long, she turned to look up at him with wide eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, and he bit his lip.

"Nothing." At least his voice didn't squeak. He approached her cautiously and brushed her hair gently off to the side. His fingers hovered above the naked skin until he told himself he was being stupid and just to touch her. She shivered as he let the pads of his fingers ever so lightly touch her bare shoulders. Gathering himself, he let the palms of his hands lie flat on the bare skin.

"Mmm," she sighed, "Your hands are warm."

No comeback came to him, though he knew if he had a clear mind, it would have been a great opening. All he could focus on was how soft her skin felt as he brushed his hands over her shoulder blades. He shook himself and set to work in earnest, rubbing the muscles that spread out under his hands. Fiyero was determined to make her addicted to his backrubs in the hopes that he could talk her into taking her shirt off on a much more regular basis.

With a deep, calming breath, he knelt and straddled her hips so he could use both hands. She pulled back, startled, until she realized her lack of covering and lay back against his pillows. "Fiyero?"

He didn't answer, only kneaded the tight muscles of her lower back for a moment. It was desperately hard not to think about her breathing beneath him, particularly at the sounds he drew out of her as he started making progress.

After a long, contented sigh, she said, "Thanks. I think that was the worst my back has ever been." Well that explained why she was so quick to take her shirt off. He rubbed out a particularly tight knob, and she groaned. "I probably would have done anything to get it to stop hurting."

"Anything?" he asked, his voice a parody of hers pre-tight episode, and she laughed.

"Try nice. You've already worked your magic."

He leaned close to whisper, "Oh, trust me. That wasn't close to the extent of my magic."

He drew goosebumps as he ran his fingers over her back and up her sides, and after a long moment, she sighed. "Okay, I guess I can keep you as my masseuse slave."

"Any time you want. I'm all yours." He couldn't help thinking the shivers that vibrated through her was more than just a reaction to the cold. He decided to press his luck. "You know, if you want, I can even give you a full body massage. Start with your feet, and work up to your calves, then your thighs." He tried not to get too excited just thinking about it.

"Yes, I get the picture," she interrupted with a cough. "I think I'll have to pass." He raked his fingertips outward from her spine, stretching her back muscles with each stroke, and she moaned a long, surprised, "Ohhhh."

"I'm sorry," he whispered by her ear, "what were you saying?" She started to speak, but he kneaded out a particularly difficult knot to draw a long moan. She mumbled a completely incomprehensible sentence, and he grinned. "I guess that means you want me to stop?" Again, a mumble, though this seemed to be disagreeing.

He chuckled and gave her back another long, thorough caress down the length of her spine over to her hips before making his way back to her shoulders. She sighed in appreciation as he drew his hands down her back to skim them feather-lightly over her skin. He repeated the journey several times until his lips couldn't resist joining in, entreated by her soft mewling as his fingers glided over her. She didn't even stir when he dropped a soft kiss on the bare skin at the nape of her neck.

He paused there for what felt like eternity until he gathered himself enough to lean away from her. Her satisfied sigh reminded him that he should relocate from astride her before he made an ass of himself. "You should teach me how to do that," her breathy voice no doubt planning a role as star in all his future daydreams.

"Now, now. I can't reveal all my secrets, now can I?" he teased, his left hand now wandering along her arm. Try as he might, he couldn't stop touching her now. She turned to smile up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. He cupped her cheek to peer down at her tenderly for a moment before he caught himself. Clearing his throat, he put some distance between them by turning off the gentle music in the background.

Obviously relaxed, she rolled over to prop up on one elbow with his sheet tucked around her chest, and he couldn't help thinking how she looked as if they'd done much more than a massage. "Even if I say pretty please?"

He wrestled his mind out of the gutter to remember her reference, and smiled wickedly.

"We'll see. I believe I have some negotiating we could do."


	9. Toss Toss

Fiyero stretched, his back nicely limber after yesterday's session. Elphaba leaned over his shoulder to check his work, and the memory of her hands running over his skin pressed to the front of his mind. He was still in a bit of disbelief about the entire thing.

Her bare back underneath his hands had occupied the vast majority of his dreams, though it was challenged by her command to take off his shirt and lie on the bed. He wasted no time complying. After all, it just would have been rude not to return the favor. Her hands came to rest on his shoulders now, and his eyes closed as he indulged in the memory. He took a deep breath and sighed.

Without warning he scooped her into his lap. "Would you stop hovering? You make it impossible to concentrate."

"What are you doing? Let me go!" She wriggled furiously to break his hold, but he shook his head.

"Uh, uh. I can't handle you breathing over my shoulder another second. This way you have a front row seat to anything I screw up."

"Fiyero," she stilled, and her voice was softer than he would have liked. He had expected the angry glaring pep talk. It made him slightly less likely to maul her. "Stop being so hard on yourself. You're not going to screw up."

With a wry laugh he said, "Yeah, not if you watch me like a hawk I won't. Come on."

She rolled her eyes, but miraculously stayed put as he passed her book to her. He had to have some fantastic luck to have gotten away with so much over the last few days. Maybe he had better karma than he'd imagined. She looked up and elbowed him in the ribs, "Stop daydreaming and work." Ok, maybe not.

This paper had quite possibly been sent to test his resolve for studying to the core as it was unarguably the dullest subject known to man. He reread a paragraph for the tenth time trying to concentrate on early climatization patterns through development of agricultural technologies in the harvest of extinct produce used to sustain their early ancestors that were long dead and past caring about such things.

"That sentence needs an active verb. And there is no such thing as a jujubean." Elphaba pointed out before returning to her book, and he crossed out the offending sentence.

He sighed. "How much longer do I have to do this? I mean, what relevance does this have to anything useful to anyone ever in the past, present or future?"

She smiled, but didn't even look up as she pointed back to the book. "Work. Sooner you're done, sooner we can go."

"But…"

"Work." He rested his forehead on her shoulder in defeat.

"Fine. But I'm going to hit you up for one of those backrubs some amazing guy taught you how to do."

She laughed. "Only if you promise not to pull another stunt like last night. I don't want another bruise on my hip, thank you very much."

"Hey, you're the one who jumped off of me. I even tried to help you catch your balance."

Her jaw dropped with an outraged scoff, and he smirked at the light in her eyes his teasing had brought. She crossed her arms. "Ugh! I jumped off you, if you remember, because you decided to attack me. And it is _not_ helping to pull my shirt off. Jerk."

"I did not! I was trying to catch you!" She pulled away as if to stand up, and he grabbed her and held tight. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry." He flashed his puppy dog eyes and most charming smile, "At least I didn't see anything…much."

She glared and was about to retort when the librarian walked in. Fiyero released her, and Elphaba hopped up before they could get another lecture about misuse of library furniture. "You two again. Haven't I warned you to be quiet in the library? Get out."

"But we were just…" he started with charm smile at full force. He really needed to finish this paper.

"Out now!" she hissed, her eyes tiny slits of repressed rage. She never did like him very much. He suspected she still carried a grudge from that whole fire alarm prank that managed to soak all the books on the third floor. Though she had neither proof nor confession, somehow she'd always known he was involved, and he was a little bitter that Avaric, the true mastermind, was left unsuspected.

He sighed, gathered his books, and nodded goodbye to Elphaba. With a half-smile of regret, she passed him the pen that had rolled across the table. He gave her hand a small squeeze and retreated toward the stairs under the librarian's beady-eyed stare.

"Both of you." He spun around to catch Elphaba's jaw drop. "Don't bother coming back until you've learned how to respect the library, and no, Mr. Tiggular, that doesn't mean right now. I don't plan to see either of you for at least a week, am I understood?"

Fiyero had to work fast to reach Elphaba and cover her mouth before the undoubtedly biting, indignant reply ruined the chance at any return. "Yes ma'am. We've learned our lesson," he said loudly, reveling in the wince that crossed the matron's face. "We'll just go mull it over a bit more, alright?"

He drug Elphaba out and endured a long tirade about the unrighteousness of the entire situation. "Can you believe the nerve of her?" Elphaba fumed before mocking the woman in a frighteningly accurate imitation. "Don't bother coming back until you've learned how to respect the library. Honestly! Who respects the library more than I do?"

"No one!" he chorused. She gave him a look, and he realized that his enthusiasm could easily be mistaken for mockery. Adopting a more sincere tone, he said as he opened the door to his room, "I'm really sorry I got you kicked out of the library."

She shrugged. "It's alright."

"No, it's not." He took her hands. "I know how much the library means to you. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you..."

"Anything?" she asked with that wicked light in her eyes, and he shuddered.

"Anything that doesn't involve tights or nail polish, yeah."

She laughed and squeezed his hands before releasing them. "Don't worry about it. Besides, you have a report to be working on."

He groaned. "Come on. Don't I get a pass for getting kicked out of the library? That's an omen; I'm sure of it." A patented stern look later, and he was back to working on the stupid paper at his cramped desk. So much for it not possibly getting worse. "You know, I was a lot more productive when you were on my lap."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh really? Which part? The banishment or the endless run-ons?" He pouted until she rolled her eyes and climbed into his lap. "Oz, the things I do for you."

He kissed her cheek with an overdone smack. "And that's what makes you so goodly."

"You bite your tongue." She shook her head as he did an imitation of her best friend's hair toss. "She's always after me to do that. I just look ridiculous when I try."

"Oh, it's not you. I can promise you that."

She smiled, doing her own hilarious imitation which sent hair flying everywhere. He blinked as it assaulted his eyes and blew a few wayward strands out of his mouth. She shook her hair ruefully and held a long strand if front of her face critically. "I don't know. I can't really get used to my hair down like this. It just gets into everything. I don't see how girls manage."

It hit him so strongly he almost dropped her. She was so beautiful. He watched her fuss with her unruly hair and noticed how glossy and delicate it was, and when she caught his eyes with a naïve smile on her face, he couldn't help but dwell on how enchanting she could be when she stopped trying to intimidate. It made him a little sad that the whole world didn't get to see her like this, but at the same time, he felt so privileged that he couldn't help the tender look that possessed his features.

She stared at him oddly. "Are you alright? You look a little loopy."

He chuckled. "Just thinking about your hair. It's really pretty."

"You think?" With any other girl, he would have assumed she was fishing for a compliment and obliged, but Elphaba seemed sincerely interested in his opinion. She viewed the hair again with an objective, neutral expression. "I guess. It's shiny. It's not blonde."

"Which is another very good trait."

"I thought blonde was all the rage," she said simply before poking him in the ribs. "Besides, you're all over the blondes."

"Are you saying you want me all over you?" he tossed back, only half-teasing.

She blushed. "Of course not." She hopped up to stride away. "I was just pointing out that even you prefer blonde hair."

He shrugged. "Not really."

"Riiight," she taunted. "You despise it so much that you date every girl that has it." He stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed. "See, so you must prefer it."

"Not really." The firmness in his voice took her off guard, and for a moment she just blinked at him.

"Okay. Whatever." She turned back to stare at the mirror for a second. "I can't believe we're discussing hair. Maybe Galinda's evil campaign to popularize me is working better than I thought."

"Perish the thought," he said.

She spun her hair up with a pencil stabbed through it to hold it in place. "There!" her benign rebellion complete. "Nicely unpopular again."

He shook his head as she approached and retook her seat beside him. He caught a rogue strand of hair. "You know, that doesn't really help you look less hot." She tilted her head, and he laughed. "Now you just have that sexy secretary look."

She sighed and threw her hands up in the air, "Can I do nothing wrong?"

He rolled his eyes and quipped, "Nope," as he snatched the pencil from her hair.

It rained over her shoulders with a glorious _whoosh_, and she punched his shoulder. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Needed my pencil," he shrugged and placed an innocent look on his face before returning to his dull paper.

It was quiet for a bit until Fiyero tossed down his pencil and rubbed his eyes. Elphaba caught his frustration and distracted him with, "So up or down? Galinda is dressing me for that stupid party you're making me go to." He smirked at the dig, "I was instructed to ask every guy I know, and, well, that's pretty much Boq and you."

"What did Boq say?"

"He said curly, but he was mooning at Galinda, so I'm not entirely sure he understood the question."

He stared at her a moment and mused which he would prefer to see on her. "Hmmm. That's a tough call. See, with up," he combed her hair back and held it away from her face, "there's the advantage of long, graceful lines and very enticing access to the neck." He brushed his finger down the side of her neck to her shoulder conjuring images of his lips tracing their way to her collarbone, all exposed by an elegant gown. He cleared his throat. "Or with down," he released the waterfall again, dragging his fingers through it, "there's the plus of being able to run your fingers through her hair. Either way, I think you're going to find, is perfectly acceptable to most guys."

Her face was flushed, but she forced a nonchalant expression. "But you didn't answer my question." He raised his eyebrows, and she smirked, "I asked which you preferred."

"Oh, did you?" He leaned forward. She nodded and matched his lean. His eyes darted to her lips as she bit them lightly, and then back to catch her eyes flicking their return from his own mouth+. "You really want to know?" She nodded again.

"Galinda's orders," her head still nodded as she leaned forward again.

He tucked her hair behind her ear and ran his hand through the silky strands to her shoulder. A half-smile spread as he said, "Down is better for dancing, and I plan on torturing you with quite a bit of it." She smiled as the tension eased a bit. "Besides, I can always move it out of my way." He gathered it at the nape of her neck and leaned over to brush his lips a hair away from her neck to her ear to whisper, "Does that answer your question?"

She swallowed. "So, down?"


	10. It's My Party

The party was generic, and none of the regulars seemed to know that it was in fact a momentous event. Fiyero mingled and chatted and killed time as he waited for her arrival. It had been hard for him to accept that he wasn't allowed to pick her up, but he knew it crossed boundaries she wasn't ready to cross.

Galinda arrived first, the first shiny notes trumpeting the arrival of their reluctant star, and though she basked in the attention of all, Fiyero reserved his enthusiasm for the one certain to follow.

Sure enough, Galinda glanced behind and noticed herself minus one of her entourage, and she dragged in a very hesitant Elphaba. Despite the best intentions of Galinda no doubt, Elphaba looked beautiful, and he smirked to notice her hair was down. He made his way toward them through the crowd, and even across the room, he could see Elphaba's wrist straining to pull out of Galinda's grasp.

Galinda's voice floated above the noise, "Oh, honestly Elphaba. No one is staring at you. You're just standing by me. It's fine."

Elphaba caught sight of him, and relief spread through her face. He smiled and waved as he threaded his way between partygoers. Unfortunately, like most parties he attended, the dense crowd filled the room, and it took him some time to make his way across even that short distance. By the time he reached them, Elphaba looked quite exasperated.

"Would you just drop it already?"

Fiyero surfaced from the mob behind her, and he leaned close to ask over the music, "Drop what?" Elphaba jumped and whacked him on the arm as he flashed her a grin.

He collected his hug from each girl, and Galinda kissed his cheek in greeting. "Oh, just some cute boy that Elphaba is totally fatted by."

"It's infatuated, not fatted, and there is no such guy," Elphaba sighed, and Fiyero felt a crushing weight fall on him.

Galinda bounced her curls. "Well, that makes more sense. I always wondered why something cute would have such an unappealing name. After all, who wants to be fat? Yech. Anyway, I think it's just adorable, don't you Fiyero? Our little Elphie _finally_ has a crush."

"I do not," Elphaba blushed.

Galinda made a high-pitched squealing sound. "You're so cute! I bet she already kissed him. Did you Elphie?"

He was going to vomit. Elphaba had a crush on someone? But it just wasn't fair. After all, he'd studied, he'd worked, hell, he'd worn tights. What more could she want?

"I want to dance." He blinked at her for a moment. "Now." She grabbed Fiyero's hand and yanked him after her onto the dance floor. It was official. He had entered the Twilight Zone. She moved quickly into his arms and flopped her face onto his shoulder. "Please kill me."

"I'd rather not," he tried to joke, but his heart wasn't really in it. Images of Elphaba kissing some other guy kept stealing the mirth straight out of him.

She groaned. "I know she's my best friend, but sometimes I just want to wring her neck."

"So who is this guy? Should I be jealous?" Luckily she was too upset to notice that he was barely kidding. Her face pulled back from his shoulder to shoot him an evil glare.

"Oh shut up. It's not funny."

"Who says I'm kidding?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not you too."

"What?" he held up his hands in mock innocence. "I'm just curious as to who would capture the attention of our fair Elphie."

She scowled. "Just shut up. You know there's no guy, so stop tormenting me. I'm embarrassed enough."

A sudden weight lifted at her denial. "Then who is Galinda talking about?"

"Oh, um, well…" That blush ran across her face again. "She asked why I was actually consenting to attend this ridiculous party, and I stupidly told her a guy invited me. Then she invented a story from there and has decided I'm madly in love." Blood rushed back into his heart at her confession.

"Wait, so," Fiyero worked through it, "I'm the guy?"

She glanced to the side. "In a manner of speaking."

"Oh," he beamed. "Well that's alright then."

With a new lightness, he spun Elphaba around the floor until she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "You're going to make me dizzy," but her giggle took the edge out of her words. They took a break anyway after the song finished, and he took her hand to lead her through the crowd to the punch.

Galinda started toward them, and Elphaba immediately evaded. Unfortunately, the bubbly blonde was much more agile than her puffy dress belied. "Elphie! So have you found him yet?"

Fiyero handed Elphaba a punch and settled his arm around her waist. "She…" Elphaba elbowed him hard, and at her pointed glare, he reconsidered his statement, "um..has to go. We'll see you later." Elphaba had already gulped the punch down and had already pulled him halfway back on the floor.

"At least here she can't reach us," she said as she swung both arms around his neck with a resigned sigh.

"And here I thought I'd finally won you over to the joys of dancing." He faked a pout, but she just flopped her face back into his chest.

"This is a nightmare."

"Sorry to be such an inconvenience," he teased, and she made a _pfft_ sound into his chest. He smoothed her hair down her back and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "That bad?" She nodded, so he pulled her closer. "It'll be alright," he soothed. He tilted her chin up to face him. "So what is the plan?"

"Avoidance?"

He smirked. "If that means I get to dance with you all night, I'm game."

"I just have to wait for her to lose interest." He made a face that matched hers as they realized how long that was likely to take. She sighed and hung her head, and Fiyero patted her shoulder with his best commiserating look.

Galinda whirled by, dragging her befuddled partner in an odd arc. "Elphie?" she hissed in the least conspiratorial whisper on the planet. She was spun away, and each sentence was a new struggle to maneuver close enough. "What are you doing?" Spin. "Shouldn't you be looking for what's his face?" Spin. "You know, if you told me who he is, I could help you look." Spin. Reverse spin. "Because you're my bestest friend."

Fiyero subtly worked them away until they were boxed in by other couples. Galinda kept bobbing in that direction, but her annoyed date looked like he'd had just about enough of her leading. With him working against her, she was forced to content herself with hopping to see the two discuss at a safe distance. Fiyero did have to be at least a little impressed with her extreme perseverance.

"Fantastic," she bit out. "Now she's not going to stop until I actually find some guy." Like hell. Fiyero would rather shove needles under his fingernails than let that happen.

"Why not just tell Galinda I'm the guy?"

Elphaba made a face. "Oh yeah. Great idea. That's all I need."

"Because…?"

"Think about all the time we spend together." He did. He smiled. "Now imagine every time Galinda's giggly voice teasing me about it." Oh. She did somewhat have a point.

He shrugged, "It'd be great for my self esteem."

"Oh please. As if you need any help. You're quite possibly the most confident person on the planet."

"I'm sure of it." He laughed at her pained look as his awful joke bounced off her.

She put her fingers to his lips and shook her head in mock pity. "I think I've been tortured enough for one night. Just stick to your strengths and dance, funny boy." Grinning, he led them into a great set of dance moves, and they danced pleasantly for a minute or so until she said, "Besides, there's that whole you dating her thing."

"What? Who?" He was confused until he realized she was talking about Galinda. "Oh, that was ages ago."

"Three months. But still." Oh yes, the girl code. Fiyero really needed to up his research in finding a loophole through that. "Why didn't it work out with you two, anyway?"

He had no good answer, so he shrugged again. "You know me."

"And?"

_And…she's not you._ Even as he thought it, he knew he'd never be able to say it. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know. It was never really serious anyway."

She bristled immediately at the perceived insult to her friend. "Why not? What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," he defended. "It's just…it didn't click, okay? Can we stop talking about this?" Fiyero would much rather concentrate on the beautiful girl in his arms than the blonde who occupied a much less prestigious place in his heart. Before she could answer, Galinda popped up again, and only a long spin down the length of the narrow floor saved them. "So what do we do?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Hide?"

"Ooh!" There was a shout from someone near them, and Fiyero reflexively pulled her closer in shock. "You're under the Mosstop."

"And?" Elphaba glared, and Fiyero swallowed nervously. Damn party games.

"You have to kiss!" Several boys made catcalls or other jeering noises, and the crowd waited breathlessly for the pair to oblige. They stared in shock at each other for a long moment until Fiyero licked his lips and leaned toward her. She was so beautiful, and his heart stopped when her lips parted to match her wide eyes.

He couldn't believe this was really happening. She was going to let him kiss her. And he would be able to keep his limbs intact. Well, it wasn't a real kiss. It was a fake peer-pressured kiss. But still. Her lips were going to touch his. Oz, his brain was spinning but he couldn't manage a single coherent thought.

Inches away, Elphaba pulled back, her face flushed. "No."

"What?" Disoriented by their proximity, it took Fiyero a moment just to process the word, let alone the meaning.

"You have to," Galinda said, no doubt disappointed it wasn't the mystery man about to kiss Elphie.

Elphaba challenged her. "Who says?"

"Everyone," the blonde gave a half-shrug, as if indicating the universal law of gravity.

Elphaba gave a haughty glare. "Well, I don't have to do what everyone says to. And neither do you Fiyero." He forgot for a second that he hadn't released her, and he yanked his hands back guiltily.

She stormed out, and the entire crowd gaped after her. Party law was never challenged. Her refusal rocked their semi-society to the core. Whispers broke out, and everyone seemed very curious if she could, in fact, do that. Fiyero remained rooted to the spot in shock. Moments ago he had been a breath from kissing the most amazing girl in the world.

What happened?

He headed after her to find out.


	11. Sweet Cocoa Bean

"You're avoiding me," Fiyero stated as he plopped down next to Elphaba on the bench.

She pulled back in surprise. "Oh, it's just you."

"Ouch," he teased. "Way to build up a guy's ego." He let his arm drop across the back of the bench as his hand found her shoulders, and some of the tension she had been desperately trying to hide shifted away a bit.

With a smirk, she tilted her head to quip, "I thought we established this already. Your ego is far beyond the need for help."

He leaned into her, "As I recall, that was right before you ditched me. My pride has been deeply wounded." He adopted a dramatic pose and covered his heart with mock injury.

Her chuckle was weak, but she kept up the façade with a shrug. "I wouldn't have believed it possible as your ego is surely invincible. Well I hope you don't look to me for help. I'm afraid I'm a very poor surgeon of others' self-esteem."

"Aw, won't you at least kiss it and make it better?" he taunted back, and her cheeks colored, no doubt at the memory of the near kiss and her hasty retreat. His voice turned serious, "Why'd you leave?"

She shifted away. "I'm surprised you missed me."

"No you're not," he tucked her hair behind her ear. "You know I would."

She didn't answer at first, so he waited, fingertips busying themselves in her hair as if they could unweave the mysteries of her mind as easily as the tangled locks. It was at least a full minute later when she asked, "Are you mad?"

He smiled softly. "Not if you tell me why you're avoiding me."

"I'm not av…"

"Sh," he stilled her lips. "Can we forgo the denial this once and skip to the part where you just tell me the reason? We both know I'll keep after you until you admit it anyway."

She finally met his eyes, and for a shocked moment, she just stared at him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left."

He nodded. When she didn't continue, he said, "You know I looked for you, right?" She gave a guilty nod. "Galinda tell you how long?"

"Three hours," she winced.

"I ever broke into your room, did she tell you that?"

Elphaba smirked. "Yes, she was quite upset about that part."

Flashes of the interrupted pair floated to the forefront of his mind, and he shuddered. "Trust me, not any more than I was. I think I'll have to scrub my eyeballs to get rid of that image." She laughed, and he couldn't help but smile at her. The moment passed, and he took her hand with renewed purpose. "I was worried, Fae. I thought you were mad at me."

She leaned her head closer. "Not mad," her voice barely audible.

He leaned in symmetry. "Then what?"

Even softer still, he barely caught her words. "Afraid."

The word propelled him back. "What? Why?"

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I thought you'd be upset with me. For embarrassing you."

"Elphie, no." He pulled her against him in a tight hug, his chin resting on her head. "You couldn't if you tried. Believe me." He dropped a kiss on the soft hair there and buried his face in it. For a long moment, he just held her. Far longer than he should have, in fact, until he felt her tense in his arms. He fought a sigh as he released her. "Come on. I believe you can make it up to me with a cup of coffee."

Her eyes thanked him for the outlet. "Oh, can I? How generous of you."

"Of course. It's the least you can do for standing me up in such a dangerous situation." He pulled her to her feet, and she arched an eyebrow.

"Dangerous?"

"Oh yes," he teased. "I could have been eaten alive by all those girls. Luckily, I escaped to search for you."

"Luck indeed."

They walked toward the coffee shop, and Fiyero tried not to be disappointed by their return to normalcy. She had let him in, really and truly, if only for a moment. He would have to content himself with that. "You know what tomorrow is?"

She glanced up at him. "No, what?"

"Another lesson day." He grinned, and she laughed at his smug expression.

"Let me guess, another reward?"

He gestured with hand on heart in mock melodrama. "For all my hard work chasing Cinderella."

"And rescuing her at the ball, let's not forget."

Elphaba laughed as he beamed, "That's right! Why, I'd completely forgotten about that." He winked and bumped his shoulder into her lightly.

She slid her hand into his. "I hadn't."

Perhaps he had made more progress than he'd thought.

For a moment, they shared a long look, and then he swung her wildly in a makeshift dance, whirling through the dark streets and dipping her under the streetlight. She shook her head, giggling at his absurdity all the way to the shop.

* * *

"So, I thought today, since I won an extra lesson, I'd spend it teaching you how to cook my favorite dish." Fiyero tossed her an apron and chuckled at her mock-offended scoff. "That way you can cook it for me whenever I want. Isn't that lovely?"

He dangled a strawberry in front of her enticingly. "Ooh, just peachy," Elphaba cooed back with a feisty smirk. He grinned down at her and pulled back to check the stove. "So what are we making anyway?"

"Chocolate fondue with strawberries."

She blinked at him. "Sounds sweet."

"You sound surprised." He leaned over her shoulder from behind to whisper in her ear, "Admit it."

She blushed. "Admit what?"

"You didn't think I could cook." She let out a breath with a huge sigh. "Have you ever had fondue before?"

"First time," she said, shaking her head as she followed him to the kitchen.

"Oh, really? You're in for a treat." He rubbed butter around the fondue pot and pulled out the ingredients. "First, the chocolate and the marshmallows." He added them with some milk, stirring and covering the pot.

She tried to watch over his shoulder, but he pulled her in front of him.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of doing this." He wrapped his arms around her to reach the pot, and she leaned into him ever so subtly. "You have to stir it, you see, so it melts evenly." She nodded, and he handed her the spoon without moving away. "It takes a little while," his eyes drifted down to her neck, her bare shoulder, his apron draped across her collarbone.

"Couldn't you turn the temperature up?" It did feel suddenly hotter in here.

"No," he whispered, his fingers wandering from the spoon to her fingers. "You have to give it time, take it slow. It's worth it in the end."

She nodded, and he swallowed. He traced the fine lines in her hands, worked up her wrists, her forearms and back to settle against her waist. He struggled to remember to breathe as she shifted against him. "It's done," her voice husky, "all melted."

"Good," his lips near her ear. He reached past her for the cream and deliberately leaned closer. "You add the cream gradually," he said as he did just that. His other hand, flat against her waist, held her in place as she stirred the chocolate mixture. Her eyes half-closed, and he saw her lick her lips.

"Is it done?" her eyes flicked to him, and he speared a strawberry to dip in the warm liquid.

"Let's see." He pulled it out, dripping with chocolate and fed it to her from behind.

She took a bite gingerly and mumbled, "Mmm, this is good!"

A drip of chocolate landed on her hand, and without thinking, he pulled it to his mouth. She sucked in a breath as his lips and tongue moved over the spilt chocolate, and he barely managed to pull himself away. "Yes, it is."

She shivered, and that was all it took for a thousand fantasies to erupt in his brain of a much better way to use the melted chocolate.

She turned around with such fear in her eyes. Oh, this was a bad idea, and yet, he couldn't get the thought out of his head of her legs wrapped around him, her body pressed against him from on top the counter, her collarbone speckled with chocolate as he kissed it off.

He took a step back to when the oxygen wasn't so thin. "So," he panted. "Do you like it?"

She bit her lip again, and he was mesmerized. "It's amazing. Thank you. For teaching how."

He nodded mutely.

"You're a good teacher." She smiled shyly, and he yanked his eyes back to hers. "And a good cook."

"Thanks. Only because you're such a good pupil. And don't say that before you've had my roasted wild turkey. It's to die for." They stared at each other for a long moment until the fondue started bubbling. "I'd better…" He took a step toward it, and she scooted away.

"Yeah, I'll just…" She pointed toward the other room and vanished to set the table.

By the time he brought the chocolate in, they had both had a chance to calm down. "So, what else do you like dipped in chocolate?" he asked, and her face drained of all color. "I mean, um, marshmallows? Bananas?"

"Oh, right, yeah, um, sure." She turned her back in the pretense of some meaningless activity, and Fiyero rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Him and his big mouth.

"So did Galinda ever stop bothering you about Mystery Man?"

He gestured toward an empty chair, which she took with a sigh. "Ugh, no. I don't think she'll ever let that go. Every guy who get anywhere near me, she interrogates." He bristled irrationally at the thought of other guys going near her.

"I still think you should tell her that I'm the guy." Her eyes grew wide again, and he rushed in with, "I mean, so she can know it was just a lesson. Nothing else." Her face deflated slightly, and Fiyero kicked himself again. "I mean, um, have another strawberry."

She shot him a confused look at his odd transition, and then laughed at his apologetic face. "Sure."


	12. On My List

"I confessed," Elphaba dropped into the seat beside Fiyero.

"To?"

"Galinda."

"Okay." While technically an answer, it did little to elucidate his current confusion. "What did you confess to Galinda?"

She swung her hair back. Ever since the dance, she seemed to wear it down more often than not, but she hadn't quite gotten used to the movement of it. "That you were the guy." He choked on his orange juice.

He forced out, "Oh?" as he followed the curve of her neck stretched back to relocate the unruly hair.

"I just couldn't take it anymore, you know?" He answered with all the eloquence he could muster, a grunt. "She just kept asking, and asking, and asking until I thought I would go insane." She went back to detangling her long hair from her book bag. "Damn hair."

"Here," he reached over to help free a strand that had wrapped itself around the clasp in an impossible knot. "So?"

"What?"

"Galinda…"

"Oh." She shrugged. "I told her about our lessons. And she's made a list of skills that apparently I am lacking which you could teach me."

Fiyero frowned. "And if I told Galinda to shove it?" Elphaba looked up with eyebrows raised. "I mean, politely of course."

"Why?"

He flopped back into his chair, his arm across the back of hers. "I guess, well, it's more fun when it's just our thing. I don't want it to turn into work."

Elphaba started to say something and thought better of it. He lapsed into brooding, and after a moment, she dipped her head onto his shoulder. "It can be a supplement then." He shifted to see her face, and she smiled. "We'll keep the regular lessons, and you can just tutor me for Galinda on the side. If you don't mind, I mean. I know you're busy."

"No," he caught her chin. "I don't mind if you don't mind. I'm never too busy for you." She flashed him a coy smile, and he let go of her with a wink. "So, what's on this list?"

He grabbed for her cookie, but she slapped his hand before he managed to get away. "I wasn't allowed to see. She sealed it so I couldn't tamper with it."

"She's probably right." He took the opening to make a second play for her cookie, this time from the other side, and by the time she noticed, he had already pulled the cookie across to safety.

"Hey! Give that back." She leaned against him to force his arm down, but he wiggled it higher. When she resorted to tickling him, he took a bite off the corner before she could recapture it. "Jerk. I was going to eat that."

"We can share," he offered, and she rolled her eyes.

"I guess I don't have much choice now, do I?" He just grinned. She glanced at the clock and stood. "Oh, I have to go."

"You know, you do have a bag for all these books. It couldn't hurt to use it, right?" He fell into step beside her and grabbed her bag, slinging it over his shoulder. "Oz, this is heavy! How many books do you need?" She just stuck her tongue out at him. Which reminded him…"So the list?"

"In that book bag that apparently I have no use for."

He pinched her elbow, "No need for attitude, little missy. Hand it over." She laughed and retrieved a pink and purple starred envelope with his name on it. "Nice stationery."

"Oh shut up. You know it's Galinda's. Here's my class; let me have my books." She held out her hands expectantly, even though every day he walked her to her seat before crossing the building for his class.

"Is this PG or PG 13?" he teased. "I need to know how inventive to make the story for Madame Morrible when I get caught with it out. Carrying my love child or just regular star worship?"

"Get lost," she crossed her arms. "You're going to be late."

"Yes, dear," he teased, though she was right. He was going to be quite late if he didn't leave now. "I'll pick you up at seven, and we'll see about this list."

* * *

Their lesson had been moved to the café in honor of her recent love affair with coffee, and Fiyero provided his obligatory finished homework for her approval. "So how bad is this list?" Elphaba asked, sliding into the booth across from him with both hands wrapped around her cup. He produced the crumpled paper and spread it flat on the table. Elphaba's cheek turned a pinkish green as she scanned the page. "Well, we're definitely not doing number eight."

"Aw, come on. That sounds like fun," he teased, but she ignored his jabs.

"Why would she put number eleven? I don't even know what that means." Fiyero tugged on his collar awkwardly, having far too vivid a mental image of number eleven for his own good. "I guess we can do number four."

He leveled a stare at her. "How to shop for Galinda's birthday?"

"Well, you do shop surprisingly well for a guy," she pointed out with a poke to his shoulder. "And we all know that I know absolutely nothing about it."

He propped his head up on his arm with a smile. "Shopping for Galinda is easy, though. Just buy her something girly, shiny, and expensive that you would rather be caught dead than purchasing. It's a sure hit every time."

"See, I learned something."

He shook his head and sipped his coffee. "So does that mean we can skip Galinda's list this week? I really wanted to teach you to mambo."

"Nope, I'm on strict orders to finish both one and two on her list this week. Apparently my conversation skills are 'horrendificating'." He couldn't fight a laugh at her imitation, and she just shook her head sadly as she spun the list around to face her. He caught that pink tinge flair in her cheeks as she read several numbers on Galinda's list, and Fiyero slid a hand out to cover hers.

"We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with." She flashed him a small smile, and he busied himself tracing the lines of her fingers before she could see through him. Part of him wanted to do every single number on the list, but not under Galinda's orders. "She doesn't have to know."

"She'll know. She's already asked me about a dozen times if we've finished any of these."

"Since this morning?"

Elphaba crossed her arms. "Since this an hour ago."

"Ouch." Fiyero thought for a moment. "Well, we could always tell her we did."

"Lie?" Elphaba made a face. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Suit yourself. I just thought you weren't one for being told what to do."

She glared at him and punched his shoulder. "Oh, but it's okay when it's you telling me, huh?" She took in his face and softened. "I'm sorry. Look, I guess we can just tell her to mind her own business."

"Which she should have done to start with." The force in Fiyero's resentment took even him by surprise. Galinda had single-handedly burst that bubble of contentment that he'd been floating in. It made him face the feelings he'd been lying to himself about, and now he saw how far they still were from where he had secretly wanted to be.

"Look, if you don't want to do these, fine. All you had to do was say so."

He shook off his thoughts at the hurt tone in her voice. "Hey," he slid over to her side of the booth to put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry. You're right. I guess I just don't want things to change. I mean, look at us. We haven't even done one of these, and already we're fighting about them."

"We always fight."

She didn't meet his eyes, so he rubbed her shoulder gently. "No, we don't."

"See, we're fighting now."

He had to laugh, and the tension broke away from them both. "Okay, fine. We'll do a few of these, and just tell her that I refused to do the rest. Then she'll bug _me_ about it, and at least I don't have to live with her. So what's first?"

She consulted the list. "I'm supposed to learn how to flip my hair. Oh, Oz, and I just got it untangled again."

"Nice." He ran his fingers through it with appreciation. "How am I supposed to teach you that? I mean, I'm not a girl."

"But you do flip your hair," she answered with a smirk.

"What? I do not." Elphaba pulled back to do an imitation of him combing back his floppy hair, and he felt his cheeks burn even as they both broke into uncontrollable laughter. "Apparently you already know everything I do, then. Check that one off. Next?"

She stopped laughing.

"What?" He picked up the paper and flushed. "Are you sure you don't want to just pretend we did these?" She gave him a look, and he shrugged, "It doesn't have to be lying – just a little misdirection."

Skeptical, she raised her eyebrows. "Which is still deception."

"It's just a matter of perception. Such as, if she asks if you learned number two, you can tell the truth." At her surprise, he added, "You learned what number two on the list was, and then as the rational, independent person you are, you made a conscious choice not to focus on those skills."

"I don't know."

He leaned in and tucked her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers to rest in the soft hair at the nape of her neck. "Well," he said as he reached his other hand to trace her chin, "we can always do number two, then. Unless you aren't comfortable with this." He let his lips wander to her brush her cheek, "Because I don't think I could teach you without showing you."

She swallowed hard. "Um…"

"And really," he continued through her hair to tickle down the length of her arm, and she shivered, "if we're going to be 100% honest, we should probably work on hair flipping, too."

"But that takes hours to untangle."

He combed fingers through both sides this time, touching their foreheads together. "Your call."

She was silent for a long moment before she whispered, "Fine, you win." Neither moved for a moment, and Fiyero tried to make his winning feel less like a loss.

Finally he pulled back with a grin. "So, mambo?"


	13. Flirt Off

"You have to teach me to flirt."

It took Fiyero a second to register that Elphaba was referring to Galinda's hostage demands. "I thought we decided to fake her out?"

"No, she caught me," Elphaba sighed. "She challenged me to a flirt off."

"That sounds dirty."

She thought for a second and wrinkled her nose. "Oz, I hope not. Anyway, you have to help me not lose, or she gives me a makeover every day for a month. A month. Thirty long horrible days of curling irons and mascara wands and fishnet hosiery."

His mind fixated on that last one a little too long before he thought to ask, "And if you win?"

"She cleans her side of the room, and keeps it that way for a month." He gave her a look, and she waved her hands hysterically. "You don't understand! It's disgusting. I swear she's hidden a raccoon under all those fluffy dresses."

"A raccoon?"

"Please, Fiyero? I'm desperate. I really need your help. I can't flirt to save my life, and I have to get more phone numbers than an actual beauty queen. Can you teach me?"

He winced at the thought of her flirting with other guys, getting their numbers, going on dates. "Of course."

She bit her lip. "Now?"

"Why the sudden urgency?"

"It's tonight." His surprise must have shown because she added, "Apparently since I 'already know,' it won't be a problem."

He winced at her accusing look. After all, the lying had been his idea, and he had coerced her pretty heavily into it. He glanced at the clock and pulled her to her feet, "Come on. We'll have to ditch."

"Ditch?" She dug in her heels, and he released her hand. "Class?"

"We don't have a lot of time, do we?" He crossed his arms. "Your call. I think you'd look pretty dressed in pink."

"Jerk," she glared, and after a long moment of silent deliberation, she sighed. "Fine."

The whole way over, Fiyero tried to assemble what he could say, but as he looked at her sprawled across his bed, he couldn't help but feel that this would end badly. How could he teach her to flirt without giving himself away?

"Um, so I guess you can think of flirting as a game. It's all about attracting and connecting to someone in a positive, but open-ended way." She looked confused, so he shook his head. "Ok, basically, to flirt, you have to be interesting, attractive."

"So, I'm doomed," she said dryly.

"That's not really what I meant, but, no, you're not doomed." He let his eyes trace her body slowly until she squirmed, "Not by the slightest stretch of the imagination. You don't need makeup and low cut dresses. You just need to loosen up."

"Gee, thanks," she bit back, but her blush undid the intended sting.

"Okay, let's start with the beginning. Make eye contact." He demonstrated with her as he talked, "Not too long, but longer than normal. More intense, I guess. And then smile."

"And if he doesn't smile back?"

"He will." She bit her lip and forced a half-smile, and he grinned back. "See, you have a great smile."

She laughed. "Okay, eyes, smile. Check."

"Then just talk to him." She gave a curt nod, and he felt obliged to add, "And don't be offended by everything."

"I'm not that easy to offend," she protested. At his skeptical look, and she sighed, "Well, not all the time."

"Guys are easy. A little attention, and a pretty girl like you, you'll have him eating out of the palm of your hand." She quirked her eyebrow, and he caught the doubt in her eyes. Fiyero laid a reassuring hand on her arm. "You'll be fine."

"If you say so."

He leaned closer, sliding his hand around to her back. "I do." She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment, and he smiled softly. "Ready to try?"

She made a face, "If I say no, what are the odds you'll actually let me off the hook?"

"Slim to none."

"I figured." Elphaba sighed and stretched as he crossed the room. "Eyes, smile, talk. Okay, I'm ready." He jumped when he turned around to meet her eyes bugged out in a strange, unblinking stare. "You're not smiling," she prompted, and the grimace he forced was a poor masquerade for his usual grin.

She dropped the odd face with a sigh, and he offered, "Maybe try a little more friendly and a little less scary."

"I give up." She flopped back on his bed. "I can't do this."

"Sure you can." He pulled her up again. "Stop trying so hard. Just be yourself; you know, play to your strengths."

"I have no strengths." She sighed, flopping back down again. "This is hopeless. How can I learn to flirt by tonight?"

"Yes, you do have strengths." He hauled her back up with a sigh. "Okay, like your hair. It's gorgeous. You could draw attention to it by playing with it. Maybe twirl a little around your finger. Try it." As she did so, her eyes flicked up to his with a beautifully shy, innocent look that made his heart almost stop beating. He had the sudden feeling he'd just armed her with the secret weapon that would be his undoing.

"You mean like this?" she asked, her eyes wide, her cheek flushed, and that gorgeous hair of hers twisted around her fingertips at just the right height to draw attention to her soft, parted lips.

He licked his lips. "Yeah, that's good. Then just lean closer, and do that half-smile of yours."

The subtlest flutter of eyelashes, and he almost missed her words, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're doing it right now." She pulled back, surprised, and he laughed. "See, you're a natural."

"No, you're just a good teacher."

"See that." He struggled to control his voice, amazed that it actually sounded somewhat normal. "Compliments are a great way to flirt."

She leaned in, her arm brushing the fabric of his shirtsleeve. "So are we flirting?"

He moved even closer, watching her carefully. "If I say yes?" She hesitated, and he smiled, "See, you can flirt. Flirting is just tension, creating that uncertainty, that energy. It's not too hard."

"For you." He shrugged noncommittally and leaned back on his palms more to keep his hands occupied than anything else. She shifted even closer, so near that his arm was practically around her. "So, then what?"

"You have to read the situation. You can ask him interesting questions, or make subtle innuendos, or…" he trailed off as her hair brushed against his face. "Um, anything you want." He couldn't think this close to her. His entire brain echoed an endless chorus of _kiss her_.

"Uh, huh," she whispered, her eyes half-closed. Oh, Oz he wanted her. "Then what?"

"Well, little touches, on the arm," he demonstrated, "or the shoulder."

She leaned up, brushing her fingers in his hair, "Or hair?"

"Yeah," his voice hoarse, "anywhere that is somewhat intimate without being too, you know, personal."

"Like this?" Her hand traced his as he let his other settle at her waist, and his head wobbled in an unsteady nod. "And then?"

"You lean a little closer." His heart pounded as her nose brushed his cheek. Her lips felt so close that he could almost taste them. He swallowed, "And then you have him wrapped around your finger."

"How do I know?" How could she not know? He was practically putty in her hands.

He traced her thumb until she shivered against him and then lifted her hand to cover his rapidly beating heart. "You'll know."

She froze, and for both, every muscle held as tense as piano wire, ready to spring at any second. For a breathtaking moment, it seemed something would really happen, but neither one was brave enough to make the move. Unable to take any more, he inched forward just as she sighed heavily, and, spooked, he released her.

"Um, of course that's a little more advanced than you need just to get some phone numbers."

She nodded, dazed. "So, I just?"

He drew a much needed, if shaky, breath. "Flirt a little, touch their arm, explain the bet and ask for their help. One look at your puppy dog eyes, they won't stand a chance."

She laughed. "I doubt I'll be much competition with Galinda."

"You'd be surprised," he whispered.

* * *

Fiyero couldn't get that lesson out of his head. It had opened his eyes to many things, not the least of which was that if Elphaba did anything even remotely close to that with anyone else, he would have to personally tear off each of their limbs.

Which brought him to Avaric's room. "Hey, I need your help with something."

Avaric didn't even look up from combing his hair, only tossing a quick glance to see Fiyero reflected in the mirror behind him. "What's that?"

"I need you and the guys to do something for me. I'd owe you."

Avaric turned to face him. "I'm listening."

* * *

Fiyero led her into the club that Galinda had chosen as the scene of their epic Flirt-Off. Elphaba took one step in, and turned around. "I can't do this."

He guided her in. "Yes, you can. Just pretend the guy is someone who makes you feel comfortable, and you'll be fine." She took her post on the opposite end of the room as the bubbly blonde, who had already drawn a small crowd. He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and whispered, "Knock 'em dead."

"You're not staying?"

He smiled. "I don't think I'd really help you attract guys, Fae."

"Oh." Her face fell, and his heart melted.

"Hey," he brushed his thumb over her cheek, "I'll be right over there, okay?" She smiled, and he added, "Now make me proud." He winked and headed toward his seat as if it didn't rip his stomach apart.

He watched as she tried to flirt, each time glancing over at him in crucial moments, and he shook his head, motioning for her to keep her attention on the guy. Still, she looked to be at a considerable disadvantage as the boys fawned over Galinda.

Then Avaric came in, followed by several of his crowd. He didn't even glance at Fiyero, but headed straight toward Elphaba's spot at the bar. "Hey."

"Hey," she blinked in surprise, and Fiyero was proud that she suppressed her typical jabs. "Nice night."

Avaric leaned on the bar behind her. "It is. Want my number?" Elphaba's mouth hung open for a moment, until Avaric shrugged. "You look hot."

She shook her head, "Um, sure."

Avaric clicked a pen open and took her hand. Fiyero struggled to keep calm, knowing his prankster friend was just trying to get to him. After what felt like ages, Avaric released her hand with a squeeze. "Call me, babe." He winked, and with a leer that Fiyero felt was far more than he'd asked for, Avaric headed out again.

As soon as he'd gone, Elphaba flashed Fiyero a cautiously proud smile, and he gave her a thumbs-up. From there on out, guy after guy walked in to flirt with Elphaba and leave. One guy leaned a little too close for Fiyero's liking. "I thought you were dating that guy, um, Fiyero?" he asked, clearly hoping to hear she wasn't.

"Why would you think that?" she asked, though her eyes flitted to his with a decidedly guilty expression.

"So you're single?" The guy was taking far too much time writing his number, which had migrated far too close to Elphaba's chest.

Fiyero stood up and brought her a fresh drink. "Hey," he said simply, slipping his arm around her waist. "You looked thirsty."

The guy paled and finished the last digit haphazardly. "Oh, hey, Fiyero. We were just talking about you."

He glared at the guy. "Oh, were you?" The creep mumbled a vague excuse, and as soon as he'd disappeared, Elphaba whacked Fiyero on the shoulder.

"Not a great way to help me get phone numbers, you know."

He squeezed her shoulder and pulled away. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Fiyero?" He merely flashed a smile that told her he wasn't upset, and returned with his drink to watch her protectively from a less interfering distance. Luckily, that was the only creep, and by the end of the night, she was beaming.

At nine on the dot, Galinda hopped down and flounced over to where Elphaba sat. "Okay, Elphie, time to count up." She held up a stack of napkins, "Thirty-eight. How'd you do?"

She held out both arms, now covered in phone numbers, and Galinda blinked in surprise. "Oh, Elphie, I'm so proud of you!" She pulled her roommate into a hug. "So how many did you get?"

"I don't really know." Elphaba seemed dazed by her competence, and he smiled at her as she counted them up. "Thirty-six… thirty-seven… thirty-eight. I got thirty-eight, too."

"Oh, really?" Galinda's smile faltered. She'd never intended to actually lose the bet. "Huh. Tie?"

"Thirty-nine, actually," Fiyero said from behind Elphaba with a smile. He picked up the pen, stenciled his name on her palm, and dropped a kiss on the spot with a wink. Elphaba blushed as Galinda's jaw dropped. "I think you have my number already."


	14. Interferance

"Look."

Elphaba twirled in the center of the room, but Fiyero just stared at her blankly. "Should I be noticing something?"

"I'm de-Galindafied. No makeovers for an entire month!" She flopped down beside him, bouncing the bed. "And my room is clean. You should see it; it's magnificent."

"Did you just invite me to see your bedroom?" He leaned closer, "You _must_ be happy."

"You know what? I am. I can't believe I actually beat Galinda."

"I had no doubts whatsoever." Any qualms he'd had concealing exactly how she'd won were erased at her proud smile. "You were really amazing."

"I was, wasn't I?" He had to laugh at her faux-haughty expression. Then she sobered and caught his hand. "Thank you, by the way. I do realize what you've done for me."

He froze. Surely she hadn't found out about Avaric? "You do?" he asked tightly.

"Of course. And I appreciate your coaching. There's no way I could have done it without you."

"Oh really?" he teased to cover his sudden relief. "Do I get a reward?"

"What kind of reward do you want?"

Something about her eyes in this light drove him temporarily insane, and he brought his face within inches of hers. "You know me," he trailed a finger down her arm, "I'll take what I can get." She shifted at his tone, and he had to remind himself to back off. In the most neutral voice he could manage, he asked, "How about you let me take you to dinner so we can celebrate properly?"

"Okay, but bring your History book," she hopped up and retrieved her schoolbag. "Your next test is in a week, and it's my turn for a lesson."

He tried to keep an even face despite the wave of disappointment. "Of course. Seven?"

She didn't even glance up. "Always."

* * *

Fiyero arrived early having deliberately 'forgotten' his work, but before he could knock, he heard Elphaba sigh, "For the hundredth time, it's not a date. It's Fiyero."

"So?" the perky voice of Galinda floated to him, and he could imagine her putting her hands on her hips in her super-queen stance. "That should be exactly what makes it a date."

He should at least announce his presence, but he found himself unable to move as Elphaba answered, "I told you we're studying. How's that a date? Why won't you just let this Fiyero thing go?" He had a thing?

"Elphie. It's obvious! He wrote his name on you. Oz, he practically claimed you right there. A guy does not give a girl his number just to study."

"He was just trying to help me win the bet."

"Not from the look he gave you. It was just like on As the Tomato Yearns, when Sally woke up from the coma, and Mick was waiting for her. And then they kissed, and lived happily ever after. Well, until they found out he'd accidentally slept with her evil stalker clone Consuela who was now carrying Mick's twin babies."

"What in Oz are you going on about?"

"Fiyero! Really, Elphie. You should have seen the way he was staring at you all night – all intense and jealousified. It was really hot."

He expected a stern denial from Elphaba, but instead she only managed a weak, "You're hallucinating."

"Riiight. _I'm_ obviously the one lying to myself." There was a pause in which no doubt Galinda rolled her eyes. "Honestly. When are you going to admit you like him?" That's what he wanted to know, and he held his breath as he waited for her answer.

"Hey," Avaric's voice behind him sent Fiyero leaping. "What going on?"

"What are you doing here?" Fiyero asked, and Avaric jerked his head toward a hastily redressed girl that blew kisses down the hall. "Who's that, Milid?"

"I guess," Avaric shrugged. "So why are you eavesdropping on Galinda?"

Fiyero felt his cheeks burn, and he sputtered, "I'm not. I was just here to pick up Elphie."

Avaric eyed him suspiciously, but they heard Elphaba's voice approach, "He's should be here already. I don't know what's keeping him." The door flew open, and her eyes narrowed at the sight of Avaric. "Oh, it's you."

"Whoa, Elphie, nice dress." Avaric's eyes wandered over her exposed skin the same as (Fiyero was reluctant to admit) his own did. "Very nice."

She wrapped her arms around herself. "What do you want?"

"You never called. You'll hurt a guy's self esteem that way." Fiyero winced at the similarity to his comment after that dance. Is that how he sounded? How did Elphaba put up with him? "Don't worry, I'll let you make it up to me."

Elphaba glared at Avaric's arm tossed around her shoulders, as did Fiyero. He struggled to keep his voice calm, "Ready?" She answered with a curt nod, and Avaric turned a snake-like grin on her.

"What's your hurry?"

"I just want to get away from you and your awful cologne," she bit back as she wriggled free, darting to Fiyero's side.

Avaric just laughed. "So where's dinner? I heard you're studying for that damn test in History, and I could use the help. You know, as a favor." He stressed the last word with a significant glance toward Fiyero.

"You're not invited," Elphaba barked, and Avaric turned to Fiyero with a look that said either fess up or invite him.

Fiyero sighed. Nothing short of an outright declaration of intention toward Elphaba would get Avaric to back off, and since he didn't want her to know about his arranged help at the Flirt Off, he was stuck saying, "Sure you are. Come on, Elphie. He'll behave."

He leveled a stern look at Avaric, and his friend grinned, "Scouts honor."

She shifted, unconvinced. "Fine. But you owe me one." Fiyero nodded. Maybe he could work off his debt with more bare backrubs, an option far more appealing with her than with Avaric.

When they reached the restaurant, Fiyero beat Avaric and slid into the booth beside Elphaba. He draped his arm along the back as Elphaba said, "We might as well get started. Where's your book?"

He'd been hoping she wouldn't notice. "Um…"

"Well, we can always take this back to your place," Avaric offered suggestively. "For the sake of our education, of course."

"Or, _you_ can go get the book," she retorted with a sweet smile. Avaric raised his eyebrows, but his stare was aimed at Fiyero.

Fiyero sighed, "Let's just do the best we can without it. By the time he got back, we'd be done anyway." He leaned closer, "Besides, do you really want him in your room without supervision?"

Elphaba flinched. "Fine. What did you work on today?"

She looked between them until Avaric smirked. "Don't look at me. I barely even _go_ to class, let alone pay attention."

With a scoff toward Avaric's scholarly apathy, Elphaba turned to Fiyero. He tugged at his collar. "What? You don't know either? Didn't you do the homework?"

"See, um, I meant to," he fumbled for words. He couldn't very well tell her that all he thought about lately was her.

Before she could chastise him, Avaric cackled, "Ooh, Fiyero's in trouble."

Elphaba swiveled around to stare at him, and not kindly. Luckily, the waitress chose that moment to bring their drinks, and as Avaric flirted, Fiyero whispered, "I'm sorry. I'll work on it tonight."

"Good," she nodded, her hand curling warmly in his. "Just make sure to do it."

He squeezed her to him in a one-armed hug. "Anything for you, Fae."

"So what are you two whispering about over there?" Avaric asked as his distraction left to place their orders. "You're going to make me jealous."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh darn. Wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Who's Fae? I don't think I've met her. Is she hot?"

Fiyero's head snapped up in surprise while Elphaba's hand numbly dropped her glass, sending water and ice skating all over the table and straight into Fiyero's lap. They both bolted away, Elphaba hissing in pain as a drop landed on her palm. "Are you alright?" he asked her, and she blushed, but nodded.

"Why are you asking her?" Avaric asked, still panting with laughter. "You're the one with a soggy crotch."

Elphaba winced, "I am so sorry. Are you ok?"

"Just a little damp." She continued to apologize as she flagged down their waitress, but he caught her hand. "Elphie, I'm fine, really." He rubbed his thumb across her palm until she relaxed.

The waitress mopped up the rest with a smirk, leaving several extra napkins, and Fiyero dabbed surreptitiously at his pants. One look at Avaric, and Fiyero decided to brave the damp trousers rather than leave the others alone. He lasted a courageous ten minutes until Avaric's heckling and Elphaba's apologies overwhelmed him. "Be right back."

He sprinted to the bath and rubbed ferociously at the wet part of his pants. Even so, it felt like he'd left them for an eternity. He tried to reason with himself that nothing too terrible could happen in a crowded restaurant, but he couldn't banish the image of her pinned to the table by Avaric's lips. He raced back only to see her stomping toward the exit. "Elphie, wait! Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. He's absolutely obnoxious."

"What did he do?" She pulled away with a defiant glare, and Fiyero's face clouded. "Did he hurt you?"

"No. He's just a jerk. Let's go."

Avaric's reflection in the window pantomimed whispering and a slap. He couldn't take Elphaba's victory from her. Not when she really had earned it. "Wait." She turned, and he slipped his arms around her waist. "Let's finish dinner at least. I'll make him shut up. I promise."

She stared up at him. "Why is this so important to you?" Before he could answer, his stomach rumbled loudly. She laughed. "Alright, we can eat. But you better not leave again."

"As long as nothing else goes flying toward my pants – deal." When they reached their booth, Fiyero tugged Avaric up by his collar. "Just one second." He hauled his friend around the corner.

"Hey, what gives?"

"Look, lay off. That isn't going to get her to help you. You're supposed to be charming, right? Why don't you try that instead of being an ass?" Avaric didn't answer, and Fiyero shook his head. He gave a gentle shove back toward the table and prayed Avaric would get the point.

After nearly five minutes of blissful calm, Fiyero felt a foot slide shyly against his. "So, about this history test," Elphaba snuck a sideways glance toward him, her cheek reddening, and Fiyero almost dropped _his_ glass. Was she…flirting with him? So blatantly?

His shock kept him from reacting, and soon his confusion deepened even more. Her foot felt larger, as if she'd layered on woolen socks. She shifted and brushed against him, the slinky material of her dress sliding over his arm. Wait. She was wearing a dress – without socks. His eyes widened as he realized it was Avaric's foot brushing him.

"Ah!" he shouted, yanking his foot back, and both turned to stare. "I…um…" The foot crept back as Avaric winked at Elphaba, and Fiyero kicked it away with wide eyes. "Stop!"

"What's going on?"

"That's _my_ foot, you idiot," Fiyero hissed at Avaric. "And you said you would behave. Just leave her alone."

Avaric paled as Elphaba's face flushed with color. "Ok, that's it. We're leaving. You obviously have no intention of studying, and Fiyero and I have work to do."

"Really," he glared. "Is that always how you dress to _study_?" A valid point, actually, since she had a month free of forced makeovers. Why had she dressed up?

"Oh yeah, well…," Elphaba and Avaric's argument became a crescendo of progressively juvenile slurs.

Fiyero caught their waitress's attention as she stared at the bickering pair. "Could we get the check, please?" She flashed him a sympathetic look, and he paid their bill without bothering to interrupt the chaos around him. He directed Elphaba toward the exit with one hand on her back, and Avaric trailed after them, hurling insults, all the way to her dorm.

She flung open her door, laced her fingers with Fiyero's and pulled him through the doorway into her room. Avaric moved to follow, and she whirled on him. "No," she held up a hand. "No amount of wheedling, even from Fiyero, is going to get you in my bedroom."

"Oh, but it gets him in?"

She blushed, but gave a firm, "Goodnight, Avaric," as she shut the door in his face.

"Thanks," Fiyero said as she locked the door and led him to her side of the room. "I know he's not exactly your favorite person."

"If by that you mean I would dance on his grave, then yes, you're right." He gave her a look, and she sighed. "Why did you invite him along, anyway?"

He shifted uneasily, "I… owed him a favor."

"For what?"

Damn. He shifted uncomfortably, and she lifted an eyebrow. "Can this be one of those things we just let go?" She shook her head, and he tried a different tack. Taking a step forward to loom nearer, he said, "Or if you want, I could find a better way to distract you." He let his eyes wander over her, and she flushed. A little piece of him hoped he would get a chance to.

"Well, if it bothers you so much..." She stepped back, and he struggled to control himself before he pounced on her - especially when she pulled out her glasses and tossed him a book. "You have to finish your homework, anyway."

He dropped the book onto the bed. "Where have you been hiding those glasses?"

"I only use them when I read small print, why?"

"They make you look really hot, like some naughty school fantasy." She rolled her eyes, and he chuckled. "And here I am, in your bedroom, which, I might add, is spotless."

She beamed at him. "Isn't it great?"

"The fantasy, or your room? Although, I suppose it doesn't much matter if my answer is the same for both." He grinned at her expression and winked. "So what's my punishment if I don't do my homework, Teach?"

She shocked him by toppling him into a chair, kicking his imagination into overdrive. "Get to work." He couldn't really form words to answer as she arched her back and shook her long hair out of its tight bun. She peered over the rims to look at him. "Now."

"Yes ma'am." He couldn't disguise the hungry look in his face as he watched her.

"What?" She looked down, and her sexy glasses slid down to the end of her nose. "Do I have something on me?"

_Just my drool_, he thought, but he shook his head. She curled up in an impossible ball on the edge of the bed, and he could only stare at how strangely sexy she could make the most mundane tasks. She caught his stare, then noticed his book beside her and rolled her eyes.

"You know, you can get it yourself." He stepped cautiously toward the bed. "Oh, for Oz's sake," she grabbed his hand and pulled him the rest of the way there, tumbling him half on top of her. "It's not like I haven't been on your bed plenty of times."

"You make it sound so dirty," he quipped even as he swallowed nervously.

She sighed, "Stop stalling," and curled up next to his side. He hauled himself the rest of the way onto her bed and grabbed her old History book. The bed creaked as she shifted into a better position, pillowed against his stomach, and he cracked his book open in a frantic attempt to distract himself from where he was and, more so, where she was. It was hopeless. The smell of her surrounded him, and he couldn't help but notice how soft her sheets were.

"What are you doing?" He realized belatedly that he was petting her sheets and yanked his hand back.

"Nothing. Your bed is nice."

She arched an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

"We should come here more often," he teased, and she laughed.

"I'm here every night," she returned, and he fought a groan. He did not need that reminder, or the many mental images of her between its sheets. "So then you're the one who needs to come here more often." His eyes widened, and she blushed as she realized what she had implied. "I mean…you know."

"Yeah," he said, even though he didn't, and they returned to their books with renewed vigor.

He engulfed himself in centuries past until wooed into a semi-coma. The words wandered past his eyes, but his brain clicked off. He yawned, and a warm, snuggly Elphaba echoed him back.

No doubt it was late, and he should go home. He stretched and tried to psych himself into moving, but Elphaba grumbled until he held still. Appeased, she cuddled closer, and he smiled at her peaceful expression, the glasses half-perched on her chin. He tugged them off and set them on her nightstand, fully intending to follow them off the bed, but Elphaba wrapped an arm sleepily around his ribcage.

He decided to give her a few minutes to drift off before moving and laid back against the soft pillow. He closed his heavy eyelids and tangled a hand in her hair at his waist. Contentment enveloped him, and he didn't fight the call of sleep when it came.


	15. Wake Up Little Elphie

AN: I wanted to really thank everybody who voted in the Wicked awards. I'm so blown away. Congrats to everybody who participated.

Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I have no excuse :-(, but I will try harder.

* * *

Fiyero stretched his aching back from its odd position. Sometime during the night his clothes had tangled and twisted, and though he was aware of his surroundings, he couldn't help a certain sense of disorientation. He glanced over at Elphaba huddled by his calves and smiled. He'd always imagined if they slept together, they'd wake up somehow in each other's arms. It was quite a dose of reality to see her balled up by his feet.

So he hadn't imagined it. She had actually let him spend the night.

He folded himself over to remove her book to safety, though several of its pages had already crinkled and folded where she'd slept on them. Tracing a finger down her cheek, he whispered, "Elphie, wake up."

She mumbled an incoherent string of complaints, which made him laugh. One eye cracked open as her pillow shook. "Be quiet. Sleeping."

"Come on, Sleeping Beauty, wake up," he said with a kiss to her forehead. "We must have fallen asleep reading last night."

She stretched languidly, and then flopped back against him. "Don't care. You're warm."

"Thanks. You are, too." He pulled her up to lie in a more proper position beside him, and as she buried her face in his neck, he trailed his lips along her hairline as long as he dared. "Sleep well?"

"Still asleep," her voice muffled by his chest. "No talking."

"Well you're sure a grouch. I thought you were the biggest morning person of us all."

She drew back to glare at him, an effect somewhat ruined by how she refused to open her eyes. "You try sleeping on feet."

"You're right. I'm sorry." She gave a curt nod and flopped back against him with a groan. He couldn't help but smile at her. As he rubbed slow circles on her back, he tried to reason with her, "Come on, we have class."

She snorted, and he pulled back to watch her across the pillow.

"What?"

"It's just ironic, you encouraging me not to be late to class."

"Hey, if you'd rather skip class and spend the day in bed with me, I'm sure not going to turn you down. I just thought _you_ might care."

She frowned at him, "Too early for teasing."

"Oh, we're teasing now?" He let the pads of his fingers trace her pulse. "Then we should definitely stay in bed."

"So you're really not going to let me sleep?"

His lips brushed her hair, "Can you really blame me?" She laughed as she snuggled closer. Brushing his fingers along her shoulder, he said, "I'm a little surprised Galinda didn't kick me out."

"Or wake us up at least. She's pretty loud in the morning even without her squealing about you in my bed."

His eyes wandered to her roommate's side of the room. "Wow. She's gotten really good at making beds. I never pictured her as that domestically gifted."

"What?" Elphaba leaned over him to see, surprised, and he fought the urge to enact one of his many fantasies of her at the way she felt above him. "She can't make a bed without me to save her life."

"Guess she didn't come home last night." There was a silent moment as they contemplated that. "Where do you think she was?"

"No point speculating." He could tell it bothered Elphaba even though she brushed it off, so he flashed a silly grin. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he trapped her above him.

"But if we don't speculate, how will we justify our staying in bed?"

She pushed free and rolled onto her side to face him across the pillow. "You could always tell me why you owed Avaric a favor."

"Or you could tell me why you dressed up for dinner – voluntarily."

Silence.

She raised one eyebrow, which he mirrored back. "Touché."

He lay back and held out his arm invitingly, "Or we can just snooze without a conscience for a while."

"Great idea," she said as she snuggled back against his side. After a moment, she whispered, "Fiyero?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks." She kissed his cheek, and then settled back against him with a sigh. "Wake me up in ten."

A slow smile spread across his face. "Yes, dear."

How they made it to class on time he'll never know. She woke him up just as he'd dozed off, and between her stretching and his cajoling to stay in bed, they spent another ten minutes procrastinating. Thanks to her prodding, they walked into class seconds before the professor. A class full of assembled students whirled their heads to see the pair and jerked back to whisper excitedly.

"Where were you this morning?" Galinda hissed the second the pair took their seats, oblivious of the attention their arrival had already caused.

Elphaba crossed her arms, "Where were you last night?"

"Look, we're going out to celebrate after the History exam," Galinda avoided her friend's eyes. "Since you weren't there to ask, I said you were going, so now you have to."

"No, I don't."

"Uh, yeah, you do." Galinda turned her stern look on Elphaba, and then glanced his way. "Oh, you too, Fiyero."

He shrugged, "Cool."

Elphaba spun to face him, mouth open, but he just dropped his arm around her chair. "You're going? Just because she told you to?"

"Why not? It's just a party."

"But…"

He leaned in to whisper as class started, "So are you."

"I most certainly am not."

The corners of his lips twitched up. There was no need to argue, and he knew it. She would be there.

* * *

The afternoon found a very grouchy Elphaba embroiled in battle with a quite exasperated Galinda outside his History class. "I still don't see why we're going. You're not even _in_ this class."

"Neither are you."

"I didn't want to go. You're making me, remember?"

"Oh, not me. I believe there was a certain prince involved if I recall."

"Shut up."

He slid between them. "Ladies." Elphaba flashed a barely perceptive smile as Galinda greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. "Ready?"

Elphaba gave a sullen heave of her shoulders to indicate her ambivalence, and Galinda sighed as she climbed into her crowded carriage of prissy girls. "You're responsible for this one tonight," she teased with a nod toward Elphaba. "I think she could use a good Fiyero-style relaxificating."

"At your service," Fiyero winked, linking his arm with Elphaba's. "So my new charge, why so glum?" She answered with a scowl. "Are you so annoyed to spend the evening with me? I'd have thought we moved past this."

"Oh shut up. You know you're not the reason."

"Then?" She rolled her eyes. "Give it a chance. It could be fun."

"Or it could be another tedious waste of an evening devoted to watching drunken fools throw half-witted insults at me in a pathetic attempt to be clever. Oh the joys."

"No one's going to insult you."

She scoffed. "In front of you."

"Damn right," he pulled her to a stop facing him. "You know I wouldn't let anyone make fun of you."

"You don't have to protect me all the time," she yanked free. "I did just fine before you."

She stomped away, and he just watched in confusion. "Did I miss something?" She gave an irritated grunt, and he jogged to catch up. "What is it, Elphie? What happened?"

"Nothing."

He caught her arm. "Like hell. Something bothering you." She tried to escape, but he wrapped his arms quickly around her waist in a tight embrace. "Tell me, please?"

Her resistance softened, "It's okay, really. I just don't want to talk about it now."

"But we will later?" She hesitated, but nodded. He gave her a quick hug before he released her. "Good. Then let's go have some fun. You like fun, right?"

"Not particularly," was her dry response.

"You promise you're alright?"

She caught his hand, wedging her long fingers between his. "Of course." He raised their joined hands to his lips.

"Good."

* * *

They arrived well after the others – all by his design. It was easier to make a quick appearance later in the night than to leave early, and he wanted the option to bail readily available. He realized as they reached the door that their hands were still entwined, and he kept a tight grasp as he paid for their entrance to the club.

"I could have paid, you know."

He smiled. "I know."

"I'm paying you back."

"Okay." She seemed surprised to skip their usual fight until he leaned in. "But not with money. Dance or drink?"

"Ugh, neither, and what do you mean not with money?"

He just smiled. Before she could pester him further, Galinda appeared to escort them to the group. "You two certainly took your time. Make any stops?" she teased with a meaningful look at Elphaba.

"We walked," she answered defensively and dropped his hand.

"Walked? That's like a bazillion mile walk. That's crazy!"

Fiyero just shrugged. "That's what took us so long. Where is everyone?"

"In the back," Galinda tugged them after her with a suspicious look that said her meddling was far from over. "So you walked all the way from Shiz? Why?"

"Why not? I think Elphaba here needs a drink. As long as I'm there, what can I get you?"

Galinda shook her head. "I'm fine; thanks."

"If I remember, you're a Cozmo kind of girl, right?" Galinda blushed and nodded, and he turned to Elphaba with an appraising look. "Now you are another matter. Hmm…whiskey sour?"

"Never had one."

"You'll like it. I have a gift for drink matches."

By the time he had their drinks, the girls had absconded to the back of the club. He handed Galinda's drink to her through her crowd of followers, making sure to slip away before Pfannee could latch onto him. As always, it was a narrow miss. Elphaba sat alone at a table, watching with a coy smile, and he slid in beside her. "You could have met me. You don't have to sit here by yourself."

"Where's the fun in that?" she teased. "Besides, I actually like to be by myself. In fact, I find myself to be the best company."

"As do I," he slid her drink in front of her, and she eyed it suspiciously.

She sniffed it and made a face. "So how did you develop this talent of yours?"

"Too many years of hosting too many parties. Do you like it?"

She took a small sip. With a surprised expression, she said, "This is actually pretty good."

"I'm glad."

She pulled back. "Oh, now don't be smug."

"Can't help it." He teased back. "It's part of my whole arrogant prick persona."

She bumped his shoulder, and he swayed back to return the gesture. "You're not an arrogant prick. _That,_" she nodded toward Avaric in the center of Galinda's circle gesturing wildly, "is an arrogant prick."

"Done so soon? I see you clearly hated it. " Fiyero took the empty glass from her hand and stood. "Be right back."

"Fiyero, you don't have to…" He just raised a hand to stop her without turning around,

Several drinks later, Fiyero hoisted her to her feet. "Where are we going?" she protested, and he didn't answer for fear of resistance. Halfway to the dance floor, she figured it out and tried to pull free, so he strengthened his hold around her waist.

"At least try it. It's not half as hard as the last dance we were working on."

"But, it's so," she shivered, "public."

He tugged her against him as they reached the dance floor, and moved next to her ear to ask, "You'd rather it be private?" When she didn't answer, he continued, "Because it can be arranged."

She swallowed hard and tried to act annoyed, but he felt her edge closer. "Don't be a jerk."

"I'm not," he laid his face momentarily against the arm wrapped around his neck. "Just dancing."

She blinked up at him, and he felt the drinks wash against his inhibitions as he fought the intense desire to kiss her. The space between them had completely disappeared, and as he felt her body move flush against his, his pulse hammered a tempo even faster than the club music. He rested his cheek against hers, and slowly, as they swayed in time, he let his mouth creep toward a kiss. Her eyelashes brushed against him lightly. Oz, he could practically taste her lips already.

Without warning, Shenshen crashed into them, nearly toppling them over. "Sorry," she giggled as her partner whirled her back in. "Wow, Elphaba, you're actually dancing. Cool."

"You okay?" he asked Elphaba, and she nodded. They both stumbled a little as he led her over to a table, the will to dance over. "Too much to drink?" She nodded, hand on her head. "Come on. I'll take you home."

They weren't the only ones with that plan, and a long line of people fought to catch the next carriage. "Great," Elphaba sighed, leaning hard against his shoulder. "Remind me not to come next time."

"You didn't have any fun?"

She peered up at him from his shoulder and patted his cheek. "Of course I did." They smiled at each other in that silence made comfortable by their near-drunken stupor.

"Fiyero!" He turned to see Avaric half-hanging out of a carriage. "Need a lift?"

He dragged Elphaba over and climbed in, "Thanks."

As she looked around the packed carriage for an empty seat, Avaric patted his lap. "Need a place to sit?"

"Thanks," she answered dryly, "but I'd rather eat live Toxic Eels." She barely hesitated before climbing into Fiyero's lap, a subtlety not lost on him even in his inebriation. He held his hands stiffly at his side until the carriage reached a dip that sent Elphaba careening toward the floor. He caught her at once and kept his arm around her to hold her steady.

"Stop here," Avaric instructed the driver, and the carriage came to a halt in front of Briscoe Hall. Elphaba spilled off Fiyero's lap, and he held a hand on her waist to counter the alcohol in her system. They didn't move, neither one feeling particularly sober, until the carriage driver glared at them for being the last ones left.

"Come on," she took Fiyero's hand and led him toward his room. "I think I need to lie down."


	16. Lips Say No

Fiyero rolled onto his side and draped his arm around Elphaba's waist. "We've got to stop sleeping together like this."

"Huh?" She blinked sleepy eyes at him for a moment, the events of last night slowly distilling in her mind. "We didn't do anything."

"I know," he winked. "Next time we get drunk and wake up in bed together, you better have some clothes off. That's all I'm saying."

She rolled her eyes and fingered a button, twisting it back and forth. "Is that all it takes for you to be quiet, and let me get some sleep?"

He didn't fall for it.

"You want me to stop you," he leaned closer to kiss her cheek, "but that's not going to happen until you stop being so beautiful." With a scoff, she shoved him away. "Tease."

"I should go."

He pinned her before her thoughts could spur her to actions. "You should stay. Your delicate system needs rest after last night's entertainment, and you know my bed is more comfortable."

She arched an eyebrow.

"Alright, I don't want you to leave. Misery loves company, and there's no misery like hangover misery."

"Fine. But no more jokes like that." He opened his mouth, but she held up a hand, "And if you say 'They're not jokes.' I swear I'll make your hangover look like sheer euphoria."

"You know me so well." Grinning, he settled back beside her and arranged their blanket cocoon. "Am I really still so predictable?" her voice intoned in time with his, and he nodded, "Fair enough." He took the opportunity to bury his face in her hair as she snuggled into his shoulder. "So did you have _any _fun last night?"

"Of course."

"Which part?" Propping himself up on an elbow, he twisted a strand of her hair absentmindedly around his finger. "Was it the whiskey sours? Because I tried to tell you I had a gift."

"So humble."

The finger moved to trace her arm. "It's hard to be humble when I'm trying to impress you."

"Uh, huh." She rolled over, pulling the blanket off him. "Because I'm so impressed by beverages."

"Don't bother hiding it. You know you are." Her laughter left him an opening to grab the blanket back, jerking her toward him. He expected her to resist, but she flopped bonelessly back into his arms. "At least it's finally the weekend. I thought this week would last forever."

"The test?" His nodding rocked her. Elphaba leaned up to face him, and he lost his breath at how close they were. "Did I work you too hard?"

"Not as hard as I wanted you to." He tried to keep his tone light, but he must have failed because she sighed and pushed off him, untangling herself from the blankets. "What are you doing?" When she didn't answer, he grabbed her around the waist, panicking, "Where are you going?"

She wriggled free and shook her head. "I said to stop."

"Stop what?" Now he was really confused. Usually when girls said that, they had much less clothing on.

She gave him a stern look, but when it was clear he really didn't understand, she sighed. "The jokes?"

"Jokes? Oh!" He arranged his face to highlight his very genuine penitence. "I'm sorry, Fae. It's just habit. I'll try harder. Please? Come back to bed?"

She raised her eyebrows, and he sighed.

"Have mercy on my hangover. I'll behave, unless you don't want…" he froze at the look she leveled at him. "I mean, pretty please?"

"You really are incorrigible, you know?"

With a gentle tug, he nudged her again toward his bed. "Is that a bad thing?" She couldn't help but laugh. The tension broke, and the pair reconstructed their horizontal cocoon. "How are you not hung over? I didn't think you did much drinking?"

"I guess I'm just tougher than you are."

His expression mocked outrage. "Oh, no, you didn't just say that." He attacked her side where he knew her to be most ticklish, and she wriggled underneath him. He had no mercy, even as she gasped. "Say it."

The mischievous look in her eyes caught his breath, and suddenly he was very aware of her body between his legs, her hair spread out over his pillows. She licked her lips, still short of breath. She lifted her head off the bed to reach toward him. His eyes fluttered closed. Her breath warmed his cheek, traveled to his neck. Oh Oz. "Make me."

He tried not to think of all the ways he could. His eyes narrowed at her laugh. "Oh, that's it. You are so going to pay."

Poised to strike, she fluttered her eyelashes at him, and in his frozen shock, she attacked. Tickling ferociously, she rolled them so she straddled him.

"Cheater!" He struggled to break free, but she actually was pretty strong. That coupled with his supreme contentment with their position made for a poor escape plan. "Devil woman."

She stopped tickling him and sat up. "You're just mad because I won."

"Who said you won?" He rested both of his hands on her hips. "I'd say I've got you just where I want you."

She rolled her eyes and tried to move off him, but he held her firmly. "Let go of me." Fiyero did, but immediately caught her and rolled them again. She made a frustrated noise as she tried fruitlessly to escape. "Fiyero!"

He released her, and she skitted away from him across the bed. With a reconciliatory look, he patted the space next to him for her. She only glared. "If you want, I can let you win again."

"You didn't let me win." She crossed her arms. "You're just conniving."

"And you? What was that fluttering eyes thing about?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her coy smile undermined the denial, and she refused to meet his eyes.

"Oh yeah? I can refresh your memory if you want."

He moved to climb on top of her again, and she caved. "Fine. I was just fighting fire with fire."

"That was some fire."

She let out a wicked cackle. "What's that? Afraid of a little fire, Yero?"

"Don't you tempt me." He let his lips brush against her skin. "Somehow I'm always the one who gets burned." After a long look at her lips, he settled for her cheek as near her neck as he dared. Was that a soft purr he heard from her throat? She shifted slightly, which gave him better access to reach the sensitive skin beside her ear. "Not that it stops me, of course."

Her smile gradually shifted to a frown as his lips didn't move away. "You told me you'd stop."

"What?" Oblivious to anything but her skin, he continued nuzzling her jawbone until she shoved him away again.

"I mean it. Stop teasing."

"But?" Women. They always confused him. "Why do you get to tease, but I don't?"

"Because girls actually mean it when they hit on you," she exploded, and then immediately her eyes widened at the admission she'd made. "I mean…"

He slid closer. "Oh, believe me, I mean it, too."

"I said cut it out," Elphaba rolled away from him, and before he could convince her, a knock came to his door.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Of course." He tossed open the door to reveal an uncharacteristically twitchy Galinda. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Have you seen Elphaba? What am I saying? Of course you have. Do you know where she is?" Fiyero nodded slowly as he felt Elphaba walk up behind him, his cue that she was presentable. He opened the door wider, and Galinda's pretty mouth formed an O. She gawked for a moment until Elphaba prompted her.

"What is it, Galinda?"

"I need your help." Fiyero gestured for her to come inside, but she shook her head until her little blonde curls bobbled ferociously. "It's…private."

Elphaba narrowed her eyes as she asked, "Does this have to do with why you didn't come home the other night?"

"What are you talking about?" Galinda's pink face lent little credence to her obliviousness. "You just must not have seen me."

Fiyero slid his arm around Elphaba's waist. "Not unless you didn't see me, either. Which is a little unlikely I think." Elphaba elbowed him hard at the same time Galinda spun to stare at him.

"Wait…you spent the night? So are you two…?"

"No!" Elphaba didn't even let the question leave Galinda's mouth. "Look, I need to get dressed. You can tell me whatever the matter is on the way home. I'll see you later, Fiyero."

He turned for their customary goodbye kiss on the cheek, but Elphaba had already breezed through the door, Galinda in tow.

At a loss, Fiyero shook his head. Women.


	17. The Tango Thropp

Fiyero unlocked the door to his room and dropped his book bag with relief. What a long day. His last class ran late, and he'd had to sneak out the back to dodge Galinda's troupe, only to find Pfannee lurking there. All he wanted now was a long hot shower and some peace and quiet.

He rubbed his eyes with one hand as he swung the door open, and blinked at the sight.

Elphaba stood in the middle of his room. Oh, shit, it was Thursday. How late was he? He checked the time, and winced. Luckily, she hadn't noticed him yet, her arms aloft in a gorgeous dance frame.

Transfixed, he watched as she executed a beautiful solo step pattern. The long, clean lines, smooth curves and self-confidence in her pose took his breath. She seemed downright graceful. Beautiful. Where was the awkward, shy girl he'd first taught to dance?

She attempted fanciful spin, which toppled her to the ground, and he smiled. There was his Elphie. "Should I be jealous?" he asked as he righted her. "Have you gotten yourself another dance tutor on the side?"

"I've been practicing," she answered, mind focused on the task at hand. "I'm obviously not doing this right."

"You just need a partner," he tugged off his jacket. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's fine. You don't mind that I just let myself in, do you?"

"Of course not. You're welcome in my bedroom anytime you want," he teased without thinking, and he cringed for her reaction. But she had already gone back to working out the steps. "So the tango? That's pretty ambitious for a beginner."

"All the books said it was the most advanced, so if I can dance the tango, I should be passable on the others, right?" At his look, she sighed, "I'm tired of you having to slow down for me. Even if we can only do one real dance, at least you won't be…"

He finished for her, "Bored?" She looked away. "You honestly think I'm bored dancing with you?"

"We haven't danced in a while, so I guess I thought…"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Elphie. I didn't mean for you to think…"

"I know, I just…" she interrupted until they were talking at the same time, "I don't want you to be…"

"Hey," he got her attention by grasping her arm. "I'm not bored dancing with you. I don't care if we just do the hokey pokey, as long as it's with you." She blushed, and he squeezed her hand. "Come on. You look thirsty."

He filled a glass with water and handed it to her. "This is a nice surprise."

"Surprise? It's Thursday, which, as I have been so often told, is our day."

"True," a small smile crept across his face, "but I hadn't planned for you to pick dancing. Willingly, that is. It's like my birthday, or something."

She shot him a look.

"Are you sure you want to tango? We really don't have to."

"What's the matter?" she teased as she sipped at the water. "You don't know the tango?"

He took the glass out of her hand and set it down. Taking her hand, he spun her against him. "Oh, I know the tango." His eyes seared down each millimeter of her face to her lips, "I'm a big fan of the tango. "

"Then?"

"The tango is a very sensual dance." He let his hand glide down her side to her waist. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"More like permission."

She pursed her lips. "Oh, just shut up and dance."

"Yes ma'am." He flipped on the music. Elphaba assumed the perfect dance form, but he shook his head, pulling her closer.

With a sudden start, he advanced, and she retreated, all choreographed by dancers of the past. Such a universal tale of seduction – the endless chase, the coy retreat, the false surrender, leading on and on as it had generations ago and will generations to come.

How had she learned to trace her toe like that, curving across the floor as she embellished the form? Of course she would be good at dancing, what with her obscene perfectionism. When he spun her again, she responded with a high kick that reminded him how devastatingly long her legs were.

He twisted them both through some dizzying footwork, pleased that she kept up with it. Wildly, he twirled her in a figure eight and out in a pose, but somehow the edge of her sweater caught in the hook of the zipper of his pants. The resistance caused Elphaba to stumble, and the sweater ripped.

Elphaba's gaze flicked to the problem, until she realized its location, and then red-faced, she looked away. "I didn't mean to…I mean, I'm…um, sorry."

"Just, uh, give me a second." She tried to hold still as he freed her sweater. The tension was too much, so he joked with all his bravado. "That sweater of yours is a disaster waiting to happen."

She crossed her arms. "Me? Here I was thinking how you shouldn't have worn pants."

"Oh, don't you tempt me."

She smiled, and without warning stripped her sweater off. Fiyero's jaw dropped at the sight of her gentle curves accentuated by the small slinky garment underneath. "Better?"

He tilted his head back, praying for mercy. When he opened his eyes, she bent over, depositing the sweater with her bag and highlighting a great view of her posterior. He couldn't stop himself. When she stood up, he pressed against her from behind, his hand flat on her hipbone. "You're killing me," he breathed into her hair. "You know for somebody who wants me to stop teasing her, you're sure teasing the hell out of me right now."

"What do you mean? I'm just dancing." She rotated her hips, leaning back against him. Oh, Unnamed God. His eyes rolled back in his head as she slid against him. "This is the tango, right?"

"Oh, you want to tango? We'll tango alright." He spun her around, all traces of mirth gone, and advanced the first sequence with eyes locked into hers.

She faltered at the intensity of his gaze and focused instead on her feet. "I think I messed up the – "

"No more talking," he brought her back against him. "Dance."

He was done playing around. He wanted her. His advance was aggressive, intense, but she surprised him by flirting back. When the phrase ended, she dipped low, leg out, and he pulled her back up slowly, savoring the delicious torture of her body sliding nearer to his. Her hand tracing up her side told him she knew just what she was doing to him, and he suddenly felt overmatched.

It completely turned him on.

When Fiyero spun her across his body, she lifted a knee to his waist. He took a wide step out so her knee hooked over his thigh, and she upped the ante by extending her supporting leg up by his ear. Her full weight in his arms, her leg wrapped around his as the other brushed his ear made him sincerely want to rip her clothes off. Only the dim thought that he'd drop her kept him from doing so. Instead, he settled for running his free hand down her long, smooth leg all the way from calf to hip. As her eyes fluttered closed, he knew they were in for some serious trouble.

He recovered them into another series of steps, lost in how that slight pout to her lips could drive him so insane. She folded backwards at the waist, and he answered her dare by brazenly drawing his hand down her long neck and flat down her front. Their eyes locked as she arched back up toward him. This was such a bad idea.

As the tango raced to the finish, they fell into a wild series of twists and kicks and lifts and dips that matched the accelerando in the music. Whirling faster and faster, they ended with a quick, low dip that had her body pressed to his and her nose touching his own.

Panting, they froze there, eyes locked as the waves of intensity from the dance still washed over them. Damn, he wanted her. When he finally released her, she wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously. "How did I do this time?"

"Marry me."

She laughed. "So I guess, better?"

"You are," he couldn't keep his hands off her, trailing down her spine, caressing her arm, wandering anywhere decency allowed, "beyond words. You absolutely amaze me." She stepped back again, reclaiming the water and some much needed air.

His pulse pounded. At some point they had distinctively departed from dancing to foreplay, and he felt overwhelmed with the desire flooding his veins. He shouldn't even kiss her now for fear that he wouldn't be able to stop. Oz, he wanted her so badly it hurt. And after that dance, he had no question as to how well their bodies would move together.

He crossed to set his hands on her shoulders, and she set the glass down with a sigh. "Fiyero," her voice held a warning, but the way her head tilted back, he could tell she struggled to maintain her resolve. A wise plan, no doubt, but not one he felt capable of following. He slid his hands down her arms to her waist, and she sighed again.

He fingered the edge of that slinky torturous shirt of hers, inching closer to the soft skin of her stomach. He could kiss her right now. Whip that little shirt off and fling it across the room. Scoop her up and carry her to his bed to show her everything he _really_ wanted to teach her. He had no doubt it would be amazing, too. Earth-shattering.

To hell with it all, he thought as he moved closer. She wanted it, too. Her eyes had left little to the imagination there. She turned in his arms just as he captured her chin. "I should go."

"Don't go."

She shivered at his husky tone, and her voice came out a whisper, "I have to."

"Please." He hadn't stopped his descent toward her lips, which now hovered inches away. "Stay."

Her eyes were on his lips. "I can't. It's nine. I told Galinda I'd meet her."

"Oh." He deflated, but he didn't release her.

"Yero, I…" She leaned toward him and licked her lips. "I want…" Her fingertips dug into his arms, but at the last second, she brushed her lips feather-light across his to kiss his cheek. Startled by her own actions, she pulled away. "Um, thank you. For the dance."

He nodded, dazed.

"I guess I'll see you…later."

Flustered, she threw open the door to show Galinda framed in the doorway, fist poised to knock. He supposed they'd never had a shot anyway. "Oh, hey," Galinda said, surprised at the strange energy in the room. "You ready?"

Elphaba bobbed her head, dragging a confused Galinda behind her.

"Goodbye, Fiyero," she called from the hallway, and Fiyero answered with a grunt shaped loosely after "Bye."

He closed the door and slid down it, cradling his head in his hands to catch his breath. What in Oz had just happened?

He got up to turn off the music and caught sight of Elphaba's sweater still draped on his couch. He stared at it. There was no reason to do anything with it now. After all, he would see her again tomorrow, or if not, certainly before she would need it again.

Still, he found himself shrugging his jacket back on and chasing after Elphaba, sweater in hand more as an excuse to see her than a legitimate attempt to return it. He hadn't gotten far before he heard Galinda.

"The tango!" Elphaba shushed her, and Galinda continued in a softer voice, "But that's like the sexiest dance ever. So, was it hot?" After the inaudible reply, she squealed. "I told you! He totally wants you."

"You should have seen his eyes. I can't even describe it."

Galinda answered. "Well, you better try!" Elphaba's answer was too quiet for him to hear, and he crept closer. "Sweet Lurline! Then what happened?" Elphaba must have told her because the next part was shouted. "Are you crazy?"

"I just panicked!" Elphaba blurted out, and Fiyero drew as close as he dared. "I seem to do that a lot lately."

That was certainly true. Fiyero leaned back on his heels, inadvertently thumping into the wall, and Elphaba shushed Galinda again.

"Did you hear that?"

Elphaba came around the corner so fast Fiyero barely had time to react. He staggered away from the wall as if he'd just approached. "Hey."

"Fiyero!" Her face paled. "What are you doing here?"

"Your sweater." He held it with arm straight out, like a shield. "You forgot it."

"How sweet." Galinda nudged Elphaba in the side, hissing, "_Take it." _She did, arm out in the same ridiculous numb posture that Fiyero held it with. "Isn't that sweet, Elphie?"

Elphaba nodded, eyes still wide.

"Thanks," Galinda rolled her eyes, tugging the sweater away herself. "Honestly," she muttered to herself. "It's not like it's puppy poop." They stared at each other for a moment until Galinda supplied, "Thanks Fiyero." She yanked Elphaba by the elbow after her, and Fiyero turned back toward his room.

"Is this my sweater?" Galinda's voice echoed down the hall. "What happened to it? There's a big rip!"

"Oh. That's from Fiyero's zipper."

"What? What zipper?"

"From his pants."

"Are you kidding me? What didn't you tell me? Elphaba Thropp, answer me. No, I will not be quieter."

He smiled to himself as he shut the door, resolving to continue their tango soon.


	18. Shot Through the Heart

AN: So, I feel just awful how neglectful I've been. Boo stupid writer's block. I have no excuse, but I do have an extra-long chapter. Forgiveness? Pretty pretty please with a Fiyero on top?

* * *

Fiyero eyed the envelope. How could an innocent little folded piece of paper be so nerve-wracking? He took a breath, and pulled the paper out.

"Well?" Elphaba asked, annoyed at his theatrics. "How did you do?"

He passed it to her, and her lack of reaction prompted him to state the obvious, "All passing."

"Except that stupid incomplete thanks to Horrible Morrible."

"Still," he slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "All because of you."

"No, because you finally started trying. I told you that you were smarter than you acted."

"True." He kissed her cheek again, "I know better than to argue with you now."

"Don't think this means you get to skip your lesson tonight. I have a lovely night of Animal Sciences planned."

"If only you meant what I wish you did."

"Oh, ha, ha. You're hilarious." She shoved his shoulder toward the door. "See you at seven, and don't be late this time."

"No dinner?"

"I have to meet Galinda."

"Again?" he whined, half-falling against her in mock desperation. "Why are you always ditching me for your roommate? A guy could get a complex."

"What can I say? I prefer her company to yours."

"Liar. You know you can't get enough of me." She rolled her eyes, and he added, "Besides, does Galinda have theseboyish good looks and irresistible charms?"

She waved him off without even bothering to glance back.

"That's what I thought!"

* * *

Fiyero swore his professor ran late just to infuriate him. His bag long since packed, Fiyero perched on the edge of his seat for over ten minutes praying for release.

The dismissal barely left the professor's lips before Fiyero sprinted up the aisle toward the exit. Not the back one, though. He'd learned his lesson there. Instead, he veered toward the side, ducking through an unsecured window. He tossed his backpack down first with a satisfying thud.

No sooner had he swung after it than he spotted his mistake – in redheaded form.

"That's quite an exit."

He stifled a groan. "Not now, Pfannee. I'm late."

"So?" She giggled, winding her arm through his to fondle his bicep. "You've never cared about being late before. Anyway, the party doesn't start until you get there."

"I have to go." He unwound her arm, only to fight off the other. Why couldn't she just take the hint? He didn't want to be rude, but Elphaba was waiting.

"Fiyero," she batted her eyes at him, "have I ever told you how adorable that haircut looks on you?"

"Um, thanks, but I really have to – "

"Go?" She giggled again. "I'm pretty sure I can convince you to stay." She traced a finger down his chest as he yanked his arm away from her.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not interested."

"What?" She stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're a great girl," he winced at his dishonesty, "but I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now."

She pouted, "I thought you and Galinda broke up."

"We did."

"Well," she slid closer, hands flat on his chest, "They say some things you only find when you're not looking for them."

"And I wasn't when I found her." The words slipped out without supervision, and his eyes widened in time with hers.

Pfannee wrapped her rejected arms around herself. "You have a girlfriend?" He hesitated, unsure quite how to categorize his relationship with Elphaba. Pfannee took his silence to be an affirmation. "Who? Does she even go to this school? The only person I ever see you with anymore is that green freak."

His face hardened. "Don't call her that."

"Oh my Oz! The artichoke is your girlfriend? No way! I didn't think she liked boys. Have you guys actually, um, kissed?" Somehow he didn't think that was what she meant to say.

"That is none of your business," he grabbed up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder with more force than strictly necessary. "Look, just leave her alone about it, ok. And leave me alone, too."

"Sorry, Fiyero," she called after him, "Look, tell the artich-, I mean – Elphaba, you guys should hang out with us sometime."

He gave a noncommittal shrug without turning around. If he hurried, he could be at Elphaba's before the front doors locked.

* * *

Fiyero lounged on Elphaba's bed as she tidied Galinda's side of the room. "I can't take it," she answered to his raised eyebrows. "And she did _try_, but a month is a long time for a girl whose entire wardrobe and thus 'purpose of being' radically changes every Wednesday."

He said nothing.

With a sigh, she dropped the pink pinafore and sat on the edge of the bed. "Fine, you win."

He pulled her to lie beside him. "So, Father heard about my grades. Morrible's claiming my professors have made an impact on me, and she's after him for more funding."

"That cow!"

He shrugged. "I'm pretty fond of Shiz, really. Particularly Professor Thropp," he tugged loose her braid, feigning immunity to her glares. "Anyway, he's thrilled that for once I'm not in jeopardy of expulsion. He's given me orders to celebrate."

"As if you need any encouragement there."

"I know, right?" his breath fluttered her hair. "I think he's actually proud of me."

"He should be."

"And you?"

She tilted her head, "What about me?"

"Are you proud of me?"

He held his breath in a rare moment of insecurity, and she rolled onto her stomach to face him. She ran her finger along his cheek. "Of course, doofus."

"Hey," he caught her hand and kissed it. "You can't call me that anymore. I'm officially no longer brainless. I'm at least mediocre."

She laughed, "I'm afraid you'll never be mediocre, Fiyero."

"So you're going with me to celebrate the success you caused." She started to argue, and he held up a hand, "And I won't take no for an answer. You brought this on yourself."

* * *

"I could have walked myself." Elphaba locked the door as Fiyero absorbed the sight of her. Galinda had clearly had a hand in dressing her.

"Not looking like that, you couldn't have."

Elphaba crossed her arms. "And what is wrong with the way I look?"

"Nothing." He eyed her skirt's shortened hem. "A little too much nothing, if you catch my meaning." At least, where other guys could see.

"Who could? Too much nothing? What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's saying you look hot," came Galinda's stuffy reply from the other side of the door before a barrage of forceful coughs. "He doesn't want you to get mauled on your way to getting mauled by him."

"Go back to sleep," Elphaba called back, "Your fever is making you delusional again."

"Though she makes a valid point," Fiyero whispered in Elphaba's ear. She rolled her eyes and stalked away, leaving him no choice but to follow her.

They found the party in full swing even without its host. Elphaba squeezed closer to his arm as a boy he vaguely recognized from his Animal Science class fell from above with a crash. The boy stumbled to his feet, raised his hands in triumph, and grabbed a nearby drink as a reward. Chugging the contents, he smashed back into the crowd.

"Please tell me that didn't really happen. What kind of party is this anyway?"

He laughed. "It's fine. Just don't go crowd surfing without me to catch you."

"I'll try to restrain myself." She followed him through the dense crowd to the bar. "So, a whiskey sour, right?"

If he hadn't known her better, he could easily have mistaken her stiffness for confidence. "If you like." He pulled her out of the path of a careening pair of giggling blondes who fluttered their eyelashes at him. "But I think you might be more in the mood for a Goodnight Kiss."

Ignoring him, she strode up to the bar to order her drink. He held up a two behind her and slapped the money down before she got a chance. "You're aware you're not winning any favors by doing that, right?"

He shrugged, slyly kidnapping her drink and enticing her to follow him.

"You are truly obnoxious, you know that?"

"That's what you love about me." She reached for her drink, but he held it out of reach until he maneuvered her into an embrace. "See, was that so bad?"

"Well, aren't you two adorable." He looked up to see Pfannee, hand on hip with her best attempt at a grin painfully etched onto her face. "Glad you could make it, Alphie."

"It's Elphaba."

"Right," she breezed with a barely discernable flutter of annoyance in her eyelashes. "Avaric's looking for you."

Elphaba's forehead wrinkled. "Why?"

"Oh, not _you,"_ Pfannee's fake grin widened, "Fiyero, of course."

Elphaba pursed her lips in a tense smile. "Of course."

"Oh, and happy birthday, Fiyero," Pfannee pressed tight against him in a smothering hug until he wriggled his way loose.

"It's not his birthday."

Any second, lasers would erupt from Elphaba eyes and skewer the tactless bimbo. Pfannee, oblivious as always, tossed her head and flashed a smug smile, "Yeah, right. Why else would he be throwing a party? Because he got good grades?" She tittered shrilly at her own attempted joke.

"Honestly. You don't have to have any idea why he's throwing a party as long as you can get drunk, do you?"

In a moment of either intense bravery or blinding stupidity, Fiyero inserted himself between the two contemptuous girls. "Where did you say Avaric was?"

Pfannee pointed toward the back room, and Fiyero guided Elphaba in that direction before Pfannee could push her over the edge. Once they had reached semi-safety, he said, "I should have asked; do you mind if we see Avaric? It's alright if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine. What's one more jackass? Far be it from me to keep the host from his guests."

He stopped walking, and she turned to face him. "I mean it. We don't have to. I don't care where we go as long as you're, um," his usual gift of eloquence failed him, "okay."

She smiled then – that soft smile that melted off all the sharp edges she'd whittled into herself. "I know. " She offered a hand, "Come on."

He didn't release her until Avaric rose to clap his shoulder in a manly approximation of an embrace. "Fiyero! The man of the hour himself. How are you?"

"Not as well as you, I see."

Avaric laughed and toasted before downing his shot. "Too true. Too true. But that has an easy remedy." He handed them each a glass, taking the opportunity to ogle Elphaba and wink at Fiyero. Fighting the urge to punch his friend, Fiyero focused on the way she sought his confirmation before accepting. She sniffed at it and wrinkled her nose.

"To Fiyero!"

Avaric made quick work of his additional shot with Fiyero not far behind, and Elphaba, eyes flitting between the two, slammed hers back in imitation. She shuddered. "What was that?"

"That, my dear," Avaric tossed a heavy arm around both of their shoulders, "is pure heaven wrapped in a healthy coat of sin."

"Otherwise known as Jagermeister," Fiyero confided. "So where are your followers?" He pulled out a chair for Elphaba and took the seat beside, arm draped on the back of her chair.

"Oh, off chasing skirts no doubt."

"And you're not joining them because – "

"I prefer to let destiny drop them in my lap." He sent another wink toward Elphaba, a little too low for her face, and Fiyero tightened his grip on the chair in another heroic display of self-control.

"There you are!" A giggling Pfannee pounced onto Avaric's lap, and Fiyero felt a sudden intense gratitude that she hadn't aimed herself at him, rejection or no.

"You see? Destiny."

"Ooh, what about destiny?" Pfannee fluttered her eyes, gleeful at the attention.

Fiyero stopped Elphaba from an undoubtedly cutting and hilarious remark. "Nothing. Back again, Pfannee?"

"I couldn't just run off and neglect the birthday boy and his handsome friend, could I?" Elphaba didn't even bat an eye at the exclusion.

"Birthday?" Avaric queried, the effects of the alcohol weighting his words. "Whose birthday?"

"Why, Fiyero's of course!"

"You have another birthday? I thought you just had the one?"

"I do," Fiyero confirmed, "It's not my birthday."

Pfannee had the decency to blush. "Oh, then why the party?"

"Since when do we need a reason for party?" Avaric shook his head in mock horror. Red-faced, Pfannee giggled along nervously, but as it faded, she clamped her lips shut.

"So where's Galinda?"

"Sick."

"Oh, that's too bad. I always enjoy seeing her at parties like this. " Another wink toward Fiyero. "At least, parts of her."

Elphaba bristled, but before she could react, their next round arrived. Pfannee took the lapse in conversation to reassert her presence, no doubt trying to redeem herself. No better way to climb the social ladder than to pull off the person above, and Pfannee zeroed in on Elphaba. "Did Fiyero get you that blouse?"

"I wasn't aware that Fiyero went around buying women's clothing."

"Oh, I just assumed. It's very nice." Pfannee bared her teeth in the popular girl version of a smile. Fiyero winced. "It's just so – different from what you normally wear."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. It's just so…colorful."

Elphaba's face clouded. "And what is wrong with that?"

"You always wear black is all. And the cut is so flattering." There was no mistaking the disdain in Pfannee's eyes as she glanced meaningfully at Elphaba's neckline. "I don't think you've ever showed this much skin in public before."

Avaric chimed in, "The more the merrier." Both girls spared a glare at him, to which he took as a signal to call for another round of drinks.

"Don't you find that a bit hypocritical?" Elphaba sent back at Pfannee went a mimicking glare to her counterpart's abundant display of cleavage.

"Look, you misunderstand. I'm trying to compliment you. It's obviously quite expensive."

"And what, I couldn't afford it?"

"That's not at all what I meant." But Pfannee's smug smile confirmed she had. "I just assumed Fiyero would buy it for you, considering."

"Considering what exactly?"

"Your relationship, of course."

"And that would be what?" Oh no. Fiyero felt a sudden dread at the unstoppable conflict looming.

"It's alright, Elphaba. You don't have to hide it. Fiyero's already told me all about you two." He studiously avoided looking to his left.

Avaric, blissfully unaware of the tension, asked, "Oh? Told you what?"

"That they're dating." He expected a biting retort, but Elphaba just looked shocked.

"Well, that explains it!" Avaric leaned back against the wall with gusto.

When he didn't go on, Fiyero prompted, "What? What does it explain?"

"All this time, I couldn't figure it out. But now, it makes such perfect sense." Fiyero had a moment of panic. Surely self-involved Avaric hadn't noticed his feelings for her, had he? He felt a sudden sense of exposure. "No wonder she seemed so unaffected by my charms."

"Oh, trust me. Fiyero doesn't even begin the list of reasons why I find you thoroughly repugnant. You do quite enough all on your own."

Avaric inclined toward Pfannee, "See the passion she holds for me? I feel kind of bad with Fiyero right there."

"You're confusing passion with disgust."

"Okay, you two, how about a time out," Fiyero took Elphaba empty glass out of her hand before it became an airborne projectile. "Who's ready for another drink?"

"I have a great idea," Pfannee's voice again held only trouble. "Why don't we take some body shots."

Fiyero shook his head. "I think that is the direct opposite of a great idea."

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun. You can even take one off me if you'll promise to be good," she winked, "or not."

"I don't think…"

"Now, don't wuss out on us," Avaric eyed Elphaba. "You're not scared are you, my pretty?"

"I am not your…," Elphaba barely got out before Avaric interrupted her.

"See, she's not scared, and she's just a babe in our party of lushes. Surely you're not afraid of a little alcohol."

"Avaric…" he warned, but in true form, his friend had maneuvered them to the bar already.

"I'll go first," Pfannee offered mostly to steal the spotlight back. She hopped theatrically onto the table and adopted the sexiest pose she could. Tilting her neck back, she licked the lime with an unsubtle and completely unnecessary flick of the tongue. Avaric stepped up, grabbing the salt with one hand and his shot with another as he licked her throat – a remarkable act of coordination for someone as drunk as he had to be. Fiyero glanced at Elphaba, only to catch her tugging her skirt lower in a vain attempt to lengthen it. He could kill Pfannee for making her doubt herself again.

He caught her hand, "You look fine. I promise." She glanced up at him, surprised, and he smiled. "Look, I'm sorry about this whole thing." He leaned in to whisper, "I never told her we were dating. I just didn't…"

"Of course you didn't," she dismissed him. "You honestly think I would believe her over you?"

"Do you want to get away while they're still busy?"

Avaric chose that moment to clap his hand on Fiyero's shoulder. "Your turn." He directed a lecherous stare toward Elphaba. "Where do you want it?"

"I don't think she wants it at all," Fiyero buffered.

Pfannee beamed. "You can take it off me then."

"Or he can skip it altogether," Elphaba spoke up.

Avaric frowned, "Look, Fiyero, I don't know where this newfound sissy attitude is coming from, but I don't like it. Take your shot."

Pfannee tossed her head. "It's Elphaba. She's just scared, and Fiyero's trying to cover for her. Can't you tell?"

"I'm not scared."

"Whatever."

"Look, if Elphaba doesn't want to, you can take it off Pfannee," Avaric suggested, much to the redhead's delight.

Elphaba grabbed the lime and tugged Fiyero toward her. "Take the shot."

"Are you sure?" Fiyero felt a sudden wave of confusion and desire and the certainty that this would not end well for him. She glared. "Okay, okay, I'm taking the shot."

She sat primly on the table, eyes flashing, and in a moment of weakness, he opted instead for her wrist. A quick kiss on her soft skin and a sprinkle of salt. A fumbled reach for a shot. It all bled together as he rushed through the process, too afraid to let it sink in. He ran his tongue over the grainy texture that offered little camouflage to how her pulse had picked up. He didn't linger, afraid of the repercussions, and the sting of the tequila met little mitigation from the paltry amount of salt he'd collected. Still, he had survived. He had only to take the lime.

He swallowed. His eyes resisted him as he dragged them up to her mouth. Her gorgeous, tantalizing mouth. Oh, this was such a bad idea. He choked down another breath before Avaric elbowed him to hurry it up. He took her face in his hands and pulled her to him to take the lime from her, her lips brushing an electric charge along his from where they met around the fruit.

"About time." Avaric dipped Pfannee to take a long lingering shot from her cleavage. By the time he had come up for air, Fiyero and Elphaba had avoided looking at each other or the salacious pair for long enough for his anxiety to quadruple. "See that's how it's done."

"Yours again," Pfannee handed him another shot.

Fiyero moved to lick Elphaba's wrist again when Avaric grabbed the salt. "Oh no you don't. Not another of those pathetic excuses you call a shot. If I have to watch you two flirt around each other again, I'll be sick. Man up. You need a real shot."

Fiyero searched her face for a warning, but she gave a curt nod before picking up the lime. "Lie back," he instructed, guiding her with palms flat on her arms.

He kept his hands in place and nudged her chin back with his nose, angling toward her neck. She tilted her head back, and he brushed his lips against the soft skin of her throat, leaving a trail of kisses toward her collarbone. There, in the hollow of her throat he ran his tongue over her pulse, and her shiver very nearly undid him. He'd have to remember that spot.

Reluctantly he drew back to sprinkle the salt and held out his hand for the shot. "Not so fast," Avaric said. "Since your last one was so damn pathetic, I think you owe us a double."

"I don't think…"

"It's fine," Elphaba spoke from her prone position.

"Are you sure?" He couldn't believe she would consider this.

She grabbed his sleeve. "Stop making it a big deal. It's just a shot." He felt like a terrible person, partly for conceding on what was clearly a bad idea, but more for desperately wanting to.

He drew his fingers down her arm to the hem of her blouse. Oz, she was beautiful. His heart pounded as she lay there, waiting for him.

She shivered as his fingertips dipped below the edge of the cloth, brushing the bare skin of her stomach. Biting his lip, he slid the fabric up. Oz, she was beautiful. His brain felt like a broken record, repeating that phrase over and over.

And he was going to get to taste her.

"Could you finish mooning before I lose my buzz?" Avaric mocked.

Fiyero drew his fingers down her sides, smiling at the goosebumps that trailed in his wake.

She gasped when the liquid hit her skin, and again as he drank it from her navel. Her breathing grew shallow and erratic as his lips caressed her. He lingered longer than strictly necessary, and when he had no further excuse, he took his time with the salt decorating her neck. Oh, yes, he was a bad, bad man. He didn't even try to make the lime a convincing pretense, unabashedly letting his lips slide across hers, his teeth nip lightly at her lower lip.

He drew back, struggling to stop himself from pulling her off that damn table and showing her exactly what he wanted to do to her. Instead, he contented himself with nuzzling her lightly and leaving sticky limejuice kisses along her cheek and forehead.

Avaric laughed, "Ok, there, Casanova. I'd like to pass out from alcohol, not boredom."

"Why don't we take some shots?" Pfannee pouted prettily. "Why do you boys get to have all the fun?"

"I know somewhere you can take a shot," Avaric winked, pulling a giggling Pfannee on his lap. "But fine. Use this body if you must." He took a shot first, then hopped onto the table, feigning hesitance. "Be gentle!"

She poured a copious amount of alcohol on Avaric's stomach and proceeded to demonstrate perhaps the most aggressively provocative body shot known to man - with eyes locked on Fiyero. His smile floundered, and he trained his eyes on Elphaba until Avaric tired of his fake groans.

"Your turn, Fiyero," Avaric teased. "I know I'm a tough act to follow, but try to make the best of it."

Fiyero lay down and undid his shirt, flashing Elphaba a wink. "You don't have to be gentle. I'm tough," he joked to ease his own tension. "At least, tougher than Avaric."

"Oh, is that so?" Avaric grabbed the bottle from her, splashing the tequila in a line from neck to navel. "How tough are you now, pretty boy?"

Elphaba just stared at him for a moment, which honestly was enough to make his heart beat faster. She waited until the tequila started to drain away. "Better hurry."

She leaned down, her hands on either side of his waist, and hair tickling his stomach. Of course, not having done a body shot, she hadn't known to keep her hair out of the path of the dripping alcohol, and he reached down to gather her hair up.

"Foul! You can't use your hands."

"Her hair…she'll get tequila…" He tried not to think how breathless he sounded.

"Doesn't matter. Penalty shot."

"Sorry," he traced her cheek. "Tie up your hair, okay? So you don't have to get tequila out of it."

As she did, Avaric handed him a fresh lime. "Salt first," he instructed.

She brushed her moist lips across his neck, and he felt his eyes roll back in his head.

"Not there," Pfannee complained. "That's not a penalty. It's not harder at all."

"Where then?" Fiyero smiled at the faint breathlessness in her own voice. So he wasn't the only one affected.

Pfannee flashed a wicked grin. "His ear."

He couldn't fight a groan as Elphaba's lips found the sensitive skin behind his ear and licked his earlobe. She deposited a layer of salt, careful not to get any inside his ear, and returned to undo her handiwork. He had to grip the table not to touch her as she took his earlobe in her mouth, caressing it torturously with her tongue. He felt suddenly outmatched.

Then her lips went to his waist, drinking the line of liquor past his chest and neck to his lips. Damn. At this rate he wouldn't be able to stand up. Sweet Oz, how did she learn how to do that? How did she melt all of his resolve so completely? Her lips closed around the lime, but he held on, tugging her back. She didn't fight him, tracing the lime one last time before she pulled away.

This time he let go – mostly to get a desperately needed shot. It was going to be a long night.


	19. Excuses, Excuses

Galinda swung the door open, "Honestly, body shots? You're corrupting my Elphie."

He blushed and rubbed his neck. "Hi, Galinda. Lovely to see you, too." She laughed and stepped aside to let him in. In a more sincere voice, he said, "Glad to see you're feeling better."

"I am. Elphie tried a healing incantation, and I think it worked okay."

"Just think?" He smirked when he caught sight of the pink petticoat Elphaba had refrained from relocating still resting in the same spot a week later.

"Well, I do have a little tickle in my throat," she followed his eyes and nudged the petticoat toward her closet. "And a sudden urge to befriend stray goats. I'm not sure what to make of that."

He shrugged, at a loss himself.

"Now that you're publicly seductifying my roommate, are you two _finally_ going out?"

"I wish." He flopped down atop Elphaba's bed. "She doesn't want to. Lately every time I try to get closer, she pulls back."

"Oh, Fiyero. Elphie may be a genius, but she's dumb at love. She doesn't know what she wants anymore than a toddler in Louis Vuitton boutique."

"Are you saying I'm couture?" he rested a hand on his heart, "Galinda, I'm touched."

She rolled her eyes in pure Elphaba form. "I'm saying: you need to convince her."

With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't want to scare her away by moving too fast."

"Oh, please. I've seen snails that move faster than you two."

"But what about last night? I don't want her to stop talking to me when some idiot teases us for dating."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that."

"Why?"

She shrugged, "Everyone thinks you're already dating."

"What?" he blinked. "Because of Pfannee?"

"No," Galinda gestured with her mascara-wand. "Because you spend all day mooning after each other. You need to just get on with it."

"I…you think?" He kicked himself for actually asking for Galinda's advice.

"You know I like to mind my own business…" He suppressed a scoff. "…but since you asked - you two are perfect together. I mean, Elphaba practically goo-ifies around you, and anyone could see you're crazy about her. You even studied _History_."

"I know!" he interjected, and Galinda favored him with a very sympathetic look.

"But with all the excuses, you two are never going to tell each other until you're both old and half-dead…like thirty!" She turned to face him directly, "Don't wait too long, or you're going to lose her."

He reeled from the sudden influx of logic, from such an atypical source.

Snapping her makeup kit shut, she picked up her bag. "I've got to go. Boq wants to review our relationship over lunch, and I've only got a couple minutes to escape."

"Wait, relationship?" Fiyero tilted his head, "You're dating Boq?"

"No, well," she sighed, "I guess technically yes. But only by accident."

"How are you dating him by accident?"

With a melodramatic hair flip, she shook her head. "Because I like dances."

"Dances?" When she made no sign to clarify, he moved on, "Then why don't you just break up?"

"I tried!" She flopped on the bed. "Elphaba even tried to teach me assertivity lessons, but it didn't do any good. She's a pretty grouchy teacher."

He smiled. "I kinda like it."

"Of course you do."

At the knock on the door, she squealed and bobbed back and forth. "Miss Galinda? Are you in there?"

"Oh, no," she clamboured around in search of a hiding place before settling on the space behind the door. "Don't let him in, okay?"

Fiyero nodded and cracked the door. Boq blinked, "Oh. Um, is Miss Galinda here?"

"Tell him no!" Galinda mouthed, quite unnecessarily. Even in his brainless days he would have been smart enough to figure that one out.

"No, she's not."

"Then why are you in her room?"

"I'm…" he stalled, a bit disheartened in his loss of lying skills, "waiting for Elphaba."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot you two were dating now."

Galinda poke him in the shoulder, hissing, "I told you so."

"Huh?" Boq asked, and Fiyero just grinned.

"Nothing. Anyway, I'll tell her you're looking for her if I see her, but I could have sworn she headed for the cafeteria."

"Really?" He perked up. "Great, well, I'll just meet her there. Thanks!"

"Sure," Fiyero beamed back. He still had it. He shut the door to reveal a very displeased Galinda. "What?"

"You sent him to the cafeteria."

"Yeah? Now you can leave without him catching you."

"Great." She crossed her arms. "And where will I eat lunch then, huh?"

"Oh."

"No wonder you two haven't figured it out yet." She shook her head. "The only lessons you need are in common sense."

* * *

Fiyero had to find Elphaba. He'd thought about it all night (not his first sleepless night at Elphaba's expense), and Galinda was right. They just needed to stop making excuses to stay apart and embrace their future together. Truth be told, they felt like pretty pathetic excuses after Galinda's easy dismissal. Or maybe he just desperately wanted to believe that nothing deserved his meager reserve of resistance anymore. Probably both.

After all this waiting, his uncharacteristic patience seemed to have evaporated. He had to see her now, before he could lose his nerve. He paced down another corridor, scanning for green when he heard her voice from a small coat closet by their old History class.

He threw open the door without bothering to knock and froze at the sight of Elphaba pressed against the far wall. "What are you doing in here?"

Wide-eyed, Elphaba leapt up and grabbed his collar. "Be quiet!" she hissed at him as she jerked him inside. He careened against the far wall as she shut the door behind them, closing the two together in the tight space.

He wondered for a second if he'd hit his head as he heard a voice through the wall repeat back, "Be quiet!"

"I'm sorry. I just love so many things about you. I could list them for days," a male voice answered, and Fiyero rolled his eyes. Great. Even his hallucinations were in love with her.

Elphaba bumped against him as she slipped by, and he couldn't help it. He leaned closer, teasing, "Well, this is going even better than I'd hoped."

Her lips twitched in aggravation. "I trust there's a reason you're here." A voice repeated her words back, and Fiyero shook his head.

"Is there an echo?" She just glared. "Since when do I need a reason to see you?"

The male voice spoke again, now clearly enough that Fiyero could tell it was real – and right through the wall. "Um, I thought you asked me to come?"

"Who _is_ that? And please tell me that you hear them, too." She couldn't resist a small smile. "Is that…?"

"Boq," she nodded.

"Boq and…Galinda?"

"Yes," her lip twitched again.

"Yes, what?" Boq asked as Galinda mimicked Elphaba.

Fiyero pressed his ear to the wall. "What are they doing? Is she repeating everything you say?"

"And if so?" she quirked an eyebrow at him with Galinda's voice a confident twin.

Boq sputtered back, "Um, so…why did you want to see me?"

Galinda didn't answer, so Fiyero turned to Elphaba for help. "What is going on?!"

"None of your business," she huffed, and Galinda echoed it as well.

The munchkin didn't seem to be taking it any better than he was. "It's not?" Silence fell for a moment as both boys stewed in confusion. Fiyero shook his head. Women.

Unable to take the silence in their close quarters for long, Elphaba pursed her lips. "And what do you want from me, exactly?"

Boq hiccupped a laugh, unnerved by Galinda's stern reply, "Well, I wouldn't turn down a kiss." Fiyero tried not to scoff at the mental image that conjured. Good luck with that.

He pushed aside their problems and took Elphaba's hand. "Look, this is ridiculous. I can't stop thinking about you. I haven't slept in ages. You're amazing, Fae, and I think we should just stop dancing around it. Let me take you out." He didn't dare phrase it as a question, and he hoped even now that he hadn't left too wide an opening for her to escape through.

Elphaba shifted away, and he sighed. Obviously he had. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Galinda breathed in a rush, no doubt barely escaping the munchkin's lips.

"Um, ok," Boq's voice came breathless. "Why not?"

Exactly! Why not? Fiyero ran his abandoned hand through his hair. "Why? Why are you so opposed to us dating?"

"I don't know! Okay!" She retreated as far as the narrow closet allowed. "I just don't know."

"I don't know?" Galinda hesitated. "Really?"

"You don't want me to kiss you?" the hurt in Boq's voice would have made more of an impact if Fiyero didn't feel so frustrated himself.

Fiyero advanced toward her. Now that he'd laid out his cards, he felt a wild need to go for broke. Then, if she still didn't want this, he'd at least face humiliation knowing he'd tried everything he could. He rested a hand on her shoulder, "Do you like me, Fae?"

"You know I do," Elphaba answered, subtle tones of fear, reproach and resignation lancing the simple reply.

Galinda choked and sputtered out, "Um, you know I do?"

"In that case…" Fiyero could practically see Boq lean toward her, licking his lips.

Or maybe he was projecting because he found himself doing the same. Fiyero let his other hand trace down her side to her waist. "Are you attracted to me?"

Elphaba nodded, eyes darting in a frantic bid for escape.

"Uh," Galinda stalled. She dodged her unwanted Romeo, repeating herself louder, and when no assistance came from her hidden muse, Galinda whacked his lips away with her purse. "Boq, stop it!"

Elphaba broke away at Galinda's shout, but Fiyero caught her chin, forcing her to face him. "And you know I would never do anything to hurt you, right?"

She melted, "Of course."

Galinda's voice came back stressed, "Of course."

A perplexed Boq outside replied, "So, you do want me to kiss you? Why'd you hit me with your purse?"

"So then…will you go out with me?" Fiyero pressed his luck, but Elphaba pulled away again.

"No," she whispered a half-hearted prayer, "Just go away. Please."

Relieved, Galinda's confidence returned with that, "Just go away. Please."

"Ok, I'm confused," Boq said.

Galinda muttered under her breath, "You and me both, buddy."

Fiyero found himself far from confused. She was running again - pulling back as he'd let her a hundred times before. But no more. In this tiny room, she couldn't get far. He cornered her, hands pressed against the wall on either side to block her escape, and she spun to face him.

"I think it only fair to warn you that I'm not prepared to take no for an answer. I'm not going away until you agree to at leave give us a chance." He leaned close enough to brush his lips along her ear, "And I'm a very persuasive man when I put my mind to it." Her eyes fluttered closed as he brushed away an errant strand of hair, and he wrapped his other arm around her waist to trap her hands flat against his chest. Surrounding her, he felt her shiver as he trailed his lips down her jaw seductively.

A loud thud against the wall outside brought their attention back, and as her eyes flew open, Elphaba shoved herself away from him. "Stop it," she fought against the breathlessness in her voice, "Look, I'm busy right now."

Galinda shouted the line through the wall tensely, and Boq backed down with an apology.

Fiyero had no such intentions. He wrapped his arms back around her waist from behind, kissing her neck with all the skill he could muster. "Me, too."

"Do you mind?" She struggled to escape his grasp, "I'm trying to help my friend." Galinda seemed positively distraught as she repeated this obvious nonsequitor to Boq.

"Go right again," he dismissed her anger, nibbling on her ear, "It's not bothering me at all." His fingers brushed along her collarbone, and she gasped, falling back against him. Abruptly, he spun her around, and she tilted her head back to allow his lips to regain their place at her throat, monitoring her rapid pulse.

He renewed his efforts on her ear, and she groaned, "I don't think we should be doing this."

"Mm, hm," he nodded as his lips found their way to the spot he remembered from the other night. No chance he would forget it after all that. Her moan was enough to drive him temporarily insane.

He almost laughed as Galinda repeated it, groan and all, and Boq asked, his confusion obvious in his voice, "What? Talking? Or dating?"

Damn her obstinate conscience. Elphaba tried to pull away again. "We can't," she breathed in a voice that he could barely recognize. It seemed as much question as answer.

"We can't." Galinda's was nowhere near as uncertain, and he could picture her crossing her arms.

Fiyero brushed his lips over Elphaba's eyelids as they closed again. "Are you sure?" he teased, lips running along her temple.

"Yes," she sighed, but he didn't believe her.

Boq was having a far worse time of it. "You want to break up?"

"Yes," Galinda stated firmly, and just to clarify, she stated it again…twice.

Boq's voice started to break, "I don't understand. Did I do something wrong?"

Wrong? Oh, it did feel wrong to be able to hold her this way. Positively sinful. Elphaba struggled to pull away and gain some distance to think. He couldn't have that now. In two steps, he had her pressed into the wall. She gasped, and he breathed in her ear, "But, do you want to?"

"Oh, Oz," she shuddered as he tugged on her earlobe again. "Yes! I mean," she yanked herself away, "I mean, no…" He fought a cocky grin at her obvious distraction.

Galinda sputtered, then repeated her friend, sounding defeated. Boq tilted his head.

Fiyero maneuvered for the kill, "Then why not? I don't want to fight this anymore."

"Me neither," she sighed, leaning into him.

"So…yes? But…no?" Boq sighed, "Now I really don't understand."

"Me neither," Galinda answered quite honestly.

"So then…" Fiyero kissed her forehead, "let's just," then her cheek, "stop…" her other cheek, "fighting it." He punctuated his sentence with his lips descending toward hers. Her perfect, beautiful lips. The lips that haunted his dreams. Oz, finally.

The door hurtled open, flooding them with light, and shocked, he pulled back. He recovered soon enough to kick himself for not kissing Elphaba when he had the chance. Grouchy, he squinted at the silhouette in the door, "Who the hell are you?"

In a soft voice, Boq asked, "What happened?"

Galinda sighed as Elphaba shouted, their voices a mere second apart. "Avaric!"

"You're interested in Avaric?" Boq asked, and Galinda's sigh only deepened.

Avaric laughed, "Well, well, what have we here? About time you guys came out of the closet."

"What are you doing here?" Fiyero demanded, not as though he cared if Avaric would be so kind as to leave.

"Nothing as fun as you two, I'm sure," he sent a wink toward Elphaba, whose cheeks threatened to catch on fire, "but then I'm game if you are."

"Not a chance," she growled, and through the wall Galinda said the same.

"Then…" Boq rubbed his temples. "You're not interested…"

"Aw, come on," Avaric pouted, "Why does Fiyero get to have all the fun?"

Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "Maybe because he's not despicable?" Galinda repeated the incongruent statement shrilly, teetering on the edge of her rope. He could hear her high heels clicking as she paced.

"Galinda," Boq sighed, "you're not making any sense."

"Don't you think I know that!"

"Don't be so touchy," Avaric tossed an arm around Elphaba and leered, "Or, you know, be touchy all you want."

"Get off me, you filthy cretin."

"Get off…" she stopped, not doubt gesturing wildly at Boq across the empty room. "That's it!" She came barreling though the door, knocking Avaric into them both. "What the flying Quox is going on?!"

Elphaba blushed, "Galinda, I…"

Boq walked up behind her as Galinda started a tirade. "You're supposed to be helping me! How do you expect me to break up with him with all this…this…instansity! Honestly! I'm not sure how much more I can take! I didn't ask for any of this!"

"Galinda?" Boq's face might as well have had her handprint, he looked so stricken.

She gasped, whirling to face him. "Oh! Boq…I…"

"You could have just told me," he whispered. "You should have just said if you didn't want to be with me. You didn't have to orchestrate this whole…just to…" He flushed, and before she could respond, he bolted out the exit.

"Boq, don't…I just…" She sighed and directed her words to the place that Boq had disappeared, as much for herself as anyone. "I did. You just heard what you wanted."

"You were dating Boq?" Avaric sneered. "The munchkin? I thought you had standards."

"I…" Galinda glanced up, distraught. "I didn't mean…"

"I have to give you points on the dismount, though. That was pretty cold."

Her eyes flooded with tears. "I was only trying to…"

"Crush him? I saw," Avaric leaned close. "You're more of a heartbreaker than I even thought." She bit her lip. "Man, just like a bug, squish! Out of his misery. I mean, that was rough!"

Galinda's chin quivered, and Fiyero reached out a hand to her shoulder. She shrugged it off and huddled up, raced off in the opposite direction.

"Man. I never thought it, but she really is a cold-hearted bi…" Avaric didn't finish his slur as Elphaba's fist collided with his face with a crunch. Even Fiyero winced. Stunned, Avaric held up a hand, only to draw it back covered in blood. "You broke my…" His face turned a pasty pale, and without warning, Avaric dropped to the ground.

Fiyero leapt forward to catch him, but not in time. The thud drew conspicuous glances from passersby who all stopped to gawk. Elphaba held a hand to her mouth. "I didn't mean to…I only meant to…"

"I know," he hushed her as he tried to shake Avaric awake. "It'll be alright."

"No, I daresay it won't," came an all too familiar and unwelcome voice behind him. He prayed for it to be anyone else as he turned to face her in slow motion.

"Madame Morrible," he started. "I can explain…"


	20. Just a Drop

"Madame Morrible," Fiyero started, trying not to stammer, "I can explain…"

"I'm sure you can," Madame Morrible replied coolly. "Miss Thropp, come with me. Master Tiggular, do help Master Tenmeadows to the Infirmary before he bleeds all over the carpet."

The shock still clear on her face, a white-faced Elphaba meekly followed Madame Morrible. At the end of the hall, she glanced back where Fiyero struggled to lift Avaric's limp form, and he could practically drown in her guilt and regret.

Poor Fae.

He offered her absolution with his eyes, but she just hung her head and trailed after Morrible. He so hated watching this new, vulnerable Elphaba led off to the slaughter without protection, but someone needed to take care of Avaric. Even as little as he deserved it at the moment.

Fiyero sighed as the unconscious boy flopped out of his arm like a sack of potatoes. With a grunt, Fiyero shook his friend as hard as he could until Avaric's eyes fluttered open. "Owwww."

"Yes, well," Fiyero hauled Avaric up. "You'll get no sympathy from me."

"The artic…" At the look Fiyero leveled at him, Avaric diverted to a less painful choice of words. "Elphaba hit me," he whined. "For a girl, she sure packs a punch."

"Well, maybe you'll think of that next time you start insulting our friends." Nodding, Avaric swayed out of balance, but Fiyero caught his arm. "Off to the Infirmary. And no excuses. Morrible saw your little stunt, and now Elphaba's in the hot seat instead of you. So you can imagine how charitable I'm feeling."

"Oh," Avaric seemed genuinely apologetic. "I'm sorry, mate. I really didn't mean it. You know how I am."

"Yeah, always shooting off at the mouth."

"True," his grin sheepish. "Takes one to know one, eh?"

Fiyero laughed despite himself. He tugged his friend into the Infirmary with every intention of bolting back to Elphaba, but the nurse demanded an explanation. After relentless questioning and an uncomfortably thorough exam of Avaric, they were finally released with a clear bill of health.

He clapped Avaric on the arm, and with his friend's renewed apologies, Fiyero began a search for Elphaba – but a fruitless one. He checked every place she frequented and anywhere else he could think of, but with no luck. Galinda wouldn't open the door, but she did tell him through her sniffles that Elphaba hadn't been home yet.

At nightfall, he had to admit defeat and head home. She must be avoiding him, unwilling to continue where they had left off. A place he had been quite a fan of. He fell back on his bed with a sigh. Tonight was destined to be another restless one.

The knock at his window surprised him, and he opened the panes only to find Elphaba clinging to a tree outside. Perhaps it would be restless for a far more pleasant reason. Eagerly, he helped her climb into his room.

"Well, this is a nice surprise."

"How's Avaric? Did I…" she winced. "Did I hurt him?"

"No, no." He slipped his arms around her. "He's fine. Just an ass. He wants to apologize."

She nodded, but didn't speak.

"What's the matter?" He asked, concerned, as she tilted her face down. "Is this about before? Look, I'm sorry if I pressured you. You know that's not what I meant. You can trust me. I just….I feel like we're both making excuses because we're just afraid. Afraid that we have nothing to be afraid about, you know? Am I making any sense?"

"What?" She looked up, and any hurt he felt at her inattention disappeared when he saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

"Fae, what's wrong?"

"I…" she shrugged. "I got…and I couldn't…just…"

He led her to the bed to sit beside her. A picture was forming in his mind, and he didn't like it one bit. "I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with Morrible. What did she say to you?" He turned her chin up to face him. "No matter what she said, you didn't do anything wrong. Don't let that old shrew upset you."

Elphaba nodded, and when he released her chin, she rested her head on his shoulder. "I wasn't supposed to see you, but I couldn't just _leave_."

"Hey, shh, it's alright." He kissed the top of her head. "Morrible can't tell you who to be friends with. Even if she tried, she couldn't keep me away from you," he promised, rubbing warm fingers up and down her arm.

Elphaba raised her head, but her eyes didn't quite meet his. "She expelled me. I'm expelled."

"What?" It took a moment to wrap his head around the word, and even then it didn't fit. "But she can't do that. She can't expel you." If anyone were to be expelled, it would be him. Elphaba never gave her an excuse to…. Of course. Flimsy as it was, this would be Morrible's excuse to rid herself of the one student that didn't blindly follow her instructions.

"Well, she did," Elphaba confirmed dully.

Fiyero's jaw clenched at the nerve of that evil old egomaniac. "But it's so…unfair. How could she overreact like that?"

She shrugged. "I have to leave tonight. She said she'll have Galinda send my things tomorrow. She even had me escorted off the premises, but I snuck back here." Her face flushed at this confession. "I couldn't leave without saying goodbye."

He melted, and without thinking, he tugged her against him in a crushing embrace. She buried her face in his chest, and as she blinked away the swell of tears, her eyelashes brushed butterfly kisses against his neck. Arms tight around her, he kissed her hair, her cheek, anywhere he could reach without allowing any space between them.

This couldn't be happening. Not now, now that they were so close, that she was finally in his arms.

"You're not leaving," he promised, voice thick with emotion. "I won't let you."

"I have to," she sighed, pulling the slightest bit away. "Morrible's already posted her lackeys outside my dorm. If they catch sight of me, she'll call the police on me for trespassing." As she talked, she paced toward the window as if she could see them from there. As if she could will them away.

"Then stay here."

"Here?"

"Yes, here." He thrust his chin out. "She won't find you, and even if she does, I'd like to see her try to take you from here." His eyes narrowed as he plotted many violent reactions he longed to inflict on such an unwise Morrible.

"I can't stay here, Fiyero," her patience depleted by what must have been a truly horrific day. "Where would I sleep? What would I wear? And what if you got caught? I can't let you risk it."

He caught her hand mid-gesture. "You can sleep on my bed, and I'll sleep on the floor if you want." He couldn't keep the pleading edge out of his voice as he bent to catch her eyes. "I'm sure I could find something for you to wear, for tonight at least, and then I'll find Galinda first thing in the morning to get to your own clothes."

Touched by his fervor, her voice softened, and she stepped closer to place a hand on his cheek, as if reasoning with a beloved, but foolish child. "And if she caught us? What then? How could I stand you suffering for my stupidity?"

"She won't catch us. We'll barricade the door if I have to, and even if she does," he gave a petulant grimace, "I don't care. It's not right. You haven't done anything to deserve this."

"Yero," she cautioned, her voice touched, but not persuaded.

"No! You're not going!" He fought the urge to pout, to beg. "Elphaba, please, don't go. Just give me one night, and I'll straighten this all out in the morning, okay? She can't get away with this. We can't let her. I can't lose…you can't leave. Please."

"Just one night?"

He nodded. "Just one night." And every other night until eternity if need be, but no use confessing that now.

"Alright," she conceded, and he beamed, gathering her to him for another hug. "I suppose we should…" She seemed abruptly nervous, but Fiyero's victory left him too ecstatic to worry why.

"Oh, right. Clothes."

He bounded to his closet, trying to regain a more suave, less pathetically elated air. Shuffling through his pile of clothes, he tried to find something his overactive imagination had pictured on her, but he'd already envisioned every article of clothing dangling on her beautiful body before. He glanced over his shoulder at her again, and retrieved a long, button-down shirt made of a particularly soft cotton.

"I think you should fit well enough in this." She blushed as he handed it to her. Only the combination of her pointed stare and waving hand reminded him to turn around to let her change.

"Okay," she demurred, and he spun around so fast he almost fell.

Oz, she looked…he couldn't think of a spectacular enough word. Her hair spilled down her back and inside the collar that dipped just low enough to inspire fantasies. The downy cotton gave subtle attention to her curves without being lewd, and with the knowledge of how soft the material felt, he couldn't help but imagine running his hands over each inch of her. But the sweetest temptation rested along the hem, which traced along her upper thigh, revealing the most breathtakingly long, gorgeous legs he'd ever seen.

It took several moments for him to realize she was speaking. "Huh?"

She rolled her eyes. "Where do you want me to put these?"

"Um, anywhere." He blushed as she bent to gather the clothes from the ground, unaware of how it shortened the already revealing hem. "Why don't you let me get those?"

"I've got them," she answered as she straightened up, much to his relief and distress. Her step forward caused her to collide with him, and even the swift contact turned him on. She blinked and shoved him away, collecting her fallen clothes and tormenting him all over again. With a glare, she crossed the room and set them on his desk. "Is this okay?"

He nodded, trying desperately to regain control from his hormones.

"Alright, then," she fidgeted without anything to occupy her. "So, I guess, I should…go to…bed?"

"Please."

She studied him at the odd note in his vote, and he schooled his face in a serenity his body did not share. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not," he promised, smoothing out the sheets and discarding the clothes he'd left there. She bit her lip, and he rolled his eyes. "Come on." He tugged on her wrist. "It's not like you haven't slept on my bed before."

"True," she smiled shyly. "But never in your clothes."

"You're welcome to take them off," he teased, waggling his eyebrows.

She shook her head, but climbed in his bed. Mm, his bed. With her. In it.

As she stiffly arranged his pillows, he forced himself away. He checked that the door and window were locked, and for good measure, he fit his chair to barricade the door. Elphaba laughed and shook her head. "As much as I would love to show Morrible exactly what I think of her at the moment, I did promise."

"Just turn off the lights." But her smile belied her curt words.

"Yes, ma'am."

He crossed the room in the dark, stumbling only once over his laundry, and when he reached the bed, he groped carefully for a pillow. Elphaba tilted her head, silhouetted by the moonlight from the window. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I'd like a pillow unless you need them both. The floor isn't exactly head-friendly."

"The floor?"

"Yes. I did promise you to be a gentleman."

"You don't need to sleep on the floor." She sighed as he stayed frozen in disbelief, pillow suspended in air. "It's not like you haven't slept beside me on your bed before," she mimicked him, and he traded the pillow for the girl in his bed, smiling at her squeal as he captured her.

"Yes, but never in my clothes." She raised her eyebrows, and he blushed as his tease backfired. "I mean, you in my clothes. I'm always in my clothes. At least, usually."

"Naturally."

"Oh, stop being smug." He flopped down hard, shaking the bed to protest.

Fiyero stretched and snuggled into the blankets, hugging his pillow to keep him from attacking the half-dressed beauty inches away. She stiffened at his closeness, and though he resisted the urge to touch her, she didn't relax.

"Are you going to sleep or just impersonate a board?"

"Shut up." She shifted to pull down the hem of her shirt.

"You know," he leaned closer, nosing her hair away from her ear to whisper, "if you want, I can always even the field." She wrinkled her forehead in confusion, and he clarified, "If you're concerned about being half-naked…" He sat up, pulling off his shirt. "…I can meet you halfway."

Her gulp of air wasn't lost on him, and he tried not to be smug himself.

"There now. Nothing to be embarrassed about."

It stroked his ego how breathless she sounded. "And how exactly is your lack of clothing supposed to make me feel better?"

He shrugged, and her eyes drifted from his face to his broad, bare chest. He smirked. "It's making me feel better."

She wisely refrained from commenting, and Fiyero contented himself with the knowledge that she was safely here with him, at least until morning. Then he would find a way to keep her for good. Preferably right here – in his bed. Maybe she would let him marry her. She pulled on the blanket, rolling away from him.

Yeah, probably not. Some other way then.

"Fiyero?" her voice interrupted his musings. "Thank you."

The soft gratitude in her voice made his heart swell. "It's nothing." Nothing compared to what he was willing to do for her at least. A drop to the ocean.


	21. Just For This Moment

Fiyero yawned and slapped his alarm off before it could disturb the beauty sleeping beside him. Was it morning already?

He allowed himself a lingering caress before hauling himself out of bed. Dressing in the dark was a skill he'd perfected at the expense of too many other sleeping women, but at least this time didn't cause his conscience such upheaval.

As he stretched, he tried to come up with anything useful to say to Morrible, and it became even more obvious that the brains in their little operation lay snoozing under his covers. With a final kiss to the side of her head, he slipped out into the hall.

He found Morrible on one of her famed rounds, wandering the grounds to catch any student fool enough to be up to 'mischief' at her school. With a deep breath, he forced his shoulders back as he marched up to her. "Madame Morrible, might I speak with you for a minute?"

Her nostril twitched as she smiled. "Master Tiggular, what do you need?"

"It's about Elphaba –"

"I assumed as much." Her smile dropped into a grimace. "I'm afraid the matter is very much closed. Even to those as privileged as yourself."

Her sneer shook him, but he refused to show it. "Shouldn't she at least be allowed to explain herself?"

She blinked at him. "I'm sorry. I was unaware of her presence. Where is she?"

"Oh, well…," he faltered, "What I mean is, I could explain…"

"But then she wouldn't exactly be speaking for herself now, would she?"

He bit his lip, determined not to give in to her manipulative rhetoric or the domineering smirk that mocked his meager intellect. She might have more logic, but he was right.

"Elphaba didn't do anything that deserved expulsion."

Her eyes flashed at the change in his demeanor, and she dropped her pretense of fairness. "Oh, didn't she? And what authority do you have on the matter?"

"You know it's true."

"Watch yourself, Master Tiggular. Prince or not, I will not tolerate disrespect at my university."

"Or you'll what, expel me?" Her features twisted in a scowl, but perversely, her anger seemed to lend him confidence. He drew himself to his full height to tower over her. "Is that what Elphaba did? She didn't lick your boots, so you're kicking her out?"

"That's enough!" Passing students froze mid-step at the ferocity of her roar, and Fiyero could help a wince. "What do you hope to accomplish here?" she hissed. "Are you trying to find yourself expelled along side her? Believe me when I say I would be happy to oblige."

What did he hope to accomplish? Angering Morrible, satisfying as it felt, probably wasn't helping his cause. And she seemed completely unwilling to entertain reason or compromise. Expulsion with Elphaba didn't sound too bad at the moment, but he pictured her reaction. He couldn't stand her disappointment. She deserved to stay at Shiz. It meant everything to her, as she did to him.

"She didn't do anything," his voice soft. "It was me."

"What?" Morrible's face sharpened. "No. You're just trying to play the martyr. She is expelled, and that's final."

"Elphaba didn't hit Avaric. I did," he raised his voice to draw attention from the onlookers. "So if you want to expel someone, you'll have to expel me."

"Fine," her lips pressed together to form a thin, white line as her eyes darted to their witnesses. "Fine. You're expelled."

"And Elphaba?"

She glowered. "Is not."

He spun on his heel before she found a way to maneuver around it and stalked back to the safety of the History building. Slipping through the students on his way back to the dorm, he tried to catch his breath.

What had he done?

He worked to convince himself that he'd made the right decision. After all, what was another expulsion to him? Shiz would make it an even dozen.

Perhaps he could convince his father to let him stay in the area. Maybe get work in the Emerald City or find a junior college that would still accept him. He had money and connections, which gave options. Elphaba had neither. And she so loved learning, while an early end to school could quite possibly make him leap for joy. Or at least, it used to.

She would have been devastated by an expulsion. And without her, he'd have lost his biggest reason to stay anyway. Yes, he'd done the right thing. Rash, maybe, but right.

He reached his room, and with a steadying breath, opened the door. Oz. The sight of her drove all rational thought out of his mind.

She propped herself up with one arm and clutched the sheet over her chest with the other. "Fiyero." He crossed the room in a breath and struggled not to kiss her as desperately as he felt for her. "How did it go?"

Her voice managed to penetrate the lust in his brain enough to let him answer, "You can stay." She held her smile back, unconvinced, and he forced his eyes away from the bare skin of her uncovered shoulder. "Morrible un-expelled you. You can stay at Shiz."

Her face split into a beaming smile, and totally disarmed, he watched as she hurled himself into his arms. "Fiyero, you are amazing!" She hugged him tightly, and he took the opportunity to bury his face in her hair. "How can I ever thank you?"

He forced the lewd thoughts out of his mind – quite the feat considering how her half-clothed body pressed into him. "You're all the thanks I need."

She kissed his cheek. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"I think you've got that question backwards."

She ran a hand down his cheek with such emotion in her eyes. Then she laughed, still radiating joy and gratitude from her every pore. "How did you convince her to let me stay? You don't have to do anything distasteful, do you?"

He dropped his eyes. "Oh, you know me. I have my ways."

Her eyes followed his, and she blushed at her lack of attire. "Where are my clothes? What did Galinda say? I hope she didn't pick anything too ostentatious."

"Oh!" He bit his lip. "I sort of forgot to get your clothes."

She turned to look at him. "You forgot?" He flashed an innocent grin, and she narrowed her eyes. "Of course you did. Look, I'm not going to parade around in your shirt all day. And no, I'm not going to take it off."

"Always an option."

She shook her head at him. "But I suppose I can forgive you seeing as you did save me from a fate worse than death. Can you imagine? Expulsion!" She shivered. "The shame alone…I don't know what I would have done."

He rubbed the back of his neck, and Elphaba furrowed her brows.

"What's wrong?"

He faked a smile. "You could hurt a guy's ego like that."

"Oh!" She pressed a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, Fiyero, I didn't even think about…I'm sorry."

"It's alright." He caught her hand and used it to pull her back into his arms. "Besides, I have a lot more to be ashamed about than a little indiscretion like expulsion."

"That's not what I meant. You don't have anything to be ashamed about." Her face melted, and he couldn't bear the sympathy.

He tackled her to the bed. "I guess I'd better get started then. What will become of my repuation?"

She giggled, and he busied himself blowing raspberries along her neck and stomach until they both fell from exhaustion. Strands of her unruly hair fluttered in her face, and he smoothed them back behind her ear. She curled up against his side, still gasping, and he wrapped an arm around her.

Without a word, she leaned up and kissed his cheek again.

"What was that for?"

She laughed. "I think you know." He pursed his lips and shook his head in mock confusion, and she humored him with a smile. "For being you." She kissed him again and settled back against him. Her hand pillowed her cheek on his shoulder, and he absentmindedly twirled her hair around his finger.

Yes, he had definitely done the right thing.

She was so happy. Not the reserved, calm comfort she usually showed, but radiant, buoyant happiness that flooded the room. It staggered him that he was the cause. One smile like that was worth a hundred expulsions.

But how could he tell her the truth now? He couldn't just leave. Madame Morrible had given him a day, and by now she had surely already contacted his father. That would be a pleasant meeting no doubt.

She stirred against him, and he pressed his lips to her forehead. "Mmm," she mumbled, nuzzling into his neck, and he buried his face in her hair. He'd figure it out later. Right now, he wanted to cherish these last few moments with her. Who knows how long they might last?


	22. Exposure

"We should, at some point, get up."

Elphaba stretched against Fiyero, and he gathered her to him. "Uh, uh. Comfy."

"Now that I'm not expelled, I have some classes to get to, and so do you."

He winced. "Um, about that…" He drew in a deep breath. This was going to suck.

She rolled on top of him to pin him with her knees. "Fiyero Tiggular, you are _not_ going to use me as an excuse to skip class."

"Yes ma'am." He smirked, but he wasn't about to ignore the opportunity she'd presented. He slid his hands over her thighs to her hips. "Anything else I can do for you? Anything at all?"

"Oh, quit it. No one thinks you're cute." But she avoided his eyes and squirmed as if just realizing her position.

He feigned hurt. "What? You don't think I'm cute? Think of my poor wounded ego. Are you sure I'm not a little cute?"

She sighed. "Maybe a little."

He leaned up to nuzzle her neck, "Just a little?"

"Mmm, maybe more than a little."

His lips found her ear to stir the fine hairs settled there. "Could I get an option on quite?" She nodded, breathless. "Even downright very?"

He kissed his way along her jaw to graze against her lips. "Yes," she breathed, and he wasn't sure if she meant it as answer or encouragement.

Nor did he care.

His hands left their post at her hips to tangle in her hair. "Good," he whispered. "Very good." The lighthearted game had turned into his wholehearted attempt at seduction, and he was all done teasing.

He didn't turn at the knock on his door, but Elphaba did. His kiss landed off on her cheek. "Shouldn't you…?"

He shook his head. He didn't care who it was. He had finished with interruptions. Elphaba fidgeted at his intensity, so he distracted her with trailed kisses all along her face.

The knock increased in urgency, but he didn't acknowledge it. Thank Oz he had barricaded the door.

He returned his attention to her soft, beautiful lips begging him to close the millimeters between them. With pleasure.

"Fiyero Tiggular," Madame Morrible's voice spilled down his spine like so much cold water. "If you do not open this door, I shall be forced to open it for you." The scrape of a key in the lock let them know she fully well intended it.

Elphaba leapt off him with frantic eyes. "What do I…?"

"Hide!" he hissed in guidance, and she raced to the closet, to find it stuffed with clothes. She darted back to the bed, poised to dive underneath when she saw the mountains of unsorted junk and unwashed laundry he'd shoved out of sight for her benefit. Her eyes narrowed at him.

"What?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not like I _knew_ I was going to have to hide a girl in my room."

"I figured that to be an everyday occurrence," she lashed back, but at the stricken look on his face, she amended. "I'm sorry."

He drew a hand down her arm to tangle with her fingers. "You should know by now that you're the only girl I hide in my room." She ducked her head with a coy smile.

"Fiyero Tiggular, open this door at once!" Madame Morrible's voice shook them out of their oddly sentimental moment as she slammed the door against the barricade. "You're already expelled. Don't make things worse for yourself."

Elphaba froze mid-excavation. "What does she mean you're expelled?"

"Uh…" He took a step back.

Elphaba didn't allow him any escape, mirroring step for step. "Fiyero, what does she mean you're expelled? What didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to tell you, really."

"When? When you were escorted off campus?"

"Apparently," he gestured to the door where Madame Morrible's arm grappled at the chair through the crack she'd widened. Redirected, the two flailed at the clothing in a furious attempt to clear enough debris for her to fit inside.

"Almost," he grunted as he flung a pile of dirty boxers behind him. Elphaba cried out as she slipped on his newly liberated underwear and slammed him with her to the ground.

As Elphaba rolled off him, a loud bang alerted them to Morrible's success, and Elphaba squeezed her eyes shut. "Master Tiggular, while I'm not surprised you've resorted to lewd encounters with my students, I would require you not to barricade your door. Now pack your things. It's time for Shiz to be free of your poor influence."

He sat up to shield Elphaba from view as long as possible. "Might I have a moment of privacy?"

"Absolutely not," she scoffed. "Whatever ninny of a girl was so indiscrete as to be caught with you has forfeited any right to privacy along with her modesty. Get up, both of you."

Fiyero stood up and with a remorseful look, offered Elphaba his hand. She bit her lip as he hauled her up.

Morrible's face portrayed a textbook description of shock, but then a wicked gleam came in her eyes. He tucked Elphaba against his side and put as much of himself as possible between the two women.

"Well, well, well. This makes much more sense - why the pretty prince would race to the rescue of this little nobody, ready to take all the punishment on himself. Frankly, I wondered what in Oz could make you do anything without a direct benefit for your spoiled, bratty self." She sneered at Elphaba's current attire. "Now I see how this little witch ensnared you. How pathetic."

Elphaba narrowed her eyes, and Fiyero tightened his grip on her arm. Please don't let anything explode.

"I did not ensnare," she blushed at the word, "him or anyone. I don't need others to fight my battles for me."

"Oh? Is that why Fiyero came to plead for your re-admittance? Why he took your place?"

"I didn't ask him to!"

Her voice layered with his as he blurted, "She didn't have anything to do with that."

"Please," Morrible spat out at him. "You're hardly conscionable enough to worry if another student got expelled for your idiocy. That is, if it was yours, which I highly doubt."

"Leave him alone," Elphaba's voice held a sinister note, but Morrible blinked, unfazed.

"Don't bother trying to defend your little lover."

"He is _not_ my lover."

"Do you think me so naïve? Where are your clothes then?" Elphaba pinched her lips together, and Morrible took her silence as submission. "Don't attempt to lie to me, you filthy little harlot."

Elphaba's eyes blazed. "I am not."

"Oh? Did I not have you removed from campus last night? And what did you do? Sneaking back, and into a boy's room no less. How indecent! I should call Security to remove you."

"She's not expelled," Fiyero burst in. "You said she could stay."

Morrible sneered at him. "At Shiz, not in the boy's dormitory."

He clicked his teeth shut as he realized the arguments encouraged Morrible's vicious tendencies. The only way he'd be rid of her would be to leave his room. For good.

He gave Elphaba a reassuring squeeze before digging out his bag. He shoveled his clothes into the bag without bothering to organize them in the slightest. Whatever he lost would be easy to replace.

At least, materialistically.

He deposited another round of wadded cloth when Elphaba grabbed his hand. His eyes flicked up to see hers widened in horror. "Fiyero, what are you…"

"I'm packing, Elphie," he murmured, running a thumb along her palm. "I'm expelled. I have to leave."

"But you can't." He shushed her with a pointed look to their chaperone, and she continued in a whisper. "You can't take the blame for me. It's not right. I won't let you do it."

His face settled into a sad smile at her distress. At least she cared. "Please, Fae," he slid a finger to her chin. "Please let me do this for you." She shook her head, but he stilled it with a soft kiss to her cheek.

"It's not right," she mumbled.

Madame Morrible interrupted. "Hurry up, Master Tiggular. You are trying my patience. We mustn't keep the next school to be terrorized waiting."

Elphaba glared at her. "He isn't going anywhere."

"Elphaba, no!" Fiyero latched an arm around her, but she squirmed loose.

She sneered at the headmistress. "You can't expel Fiyero. He didn't do anything."

Morrible rolled her eyes. "What is it with you two? Always fighting over who gets to be expelled. Honestly." She turned to face where Fiyero stood frozen in horror. "Very well. Master Tiggular, you are un-expelled for the brutal assault on Master Tenmeadows."

Elphaba lifted the corner of her mouth in a haughty smirk.

Morrible smiled back, a predatory gleam in her eyes. "I must admit, I do relish this moment. Miss Thropp, you are re-expelled, effective immediately." Elphaba shut her eyes, but forced her head high in a sign of defiance.

"But…" He waved his hands in the air. He couldn't imagine Shiz without Elphaba.

"And Master Tiggular…" Morrible cut his feeble protests off with a wave. "You are re-expelled-" she shouted to continue over Elphaba's objections, "for willful deception and violations to the student code of conduct. You will both be escorted off university premises at once. And trust me when I say, I will not hesitate in the slightest to call the police if either of you were so unwise as to show face on campus again."

"You filthy cow!" Elphaba roared, "You'd gotten what you wanted. You've always wanted to be rid of me. You can't expel Fiyero, too. It's not right."

"Oh, trust me when I say I can."

"You…you…vindictive…maniacal..." she sputtered, "You're enjoying this!"

"You bet your little green nose I am. And if I were you, I'd shut my trap. Or do I have to cut out more of my students that you've infected with your wicked, cancerous disobedience? Say, for instance, that flouncy little roommate of yours."

Elphaba's face paled. "You wouldn't."

Morrible leaned forward, her face inches from Elphaba's. "Wouldn't I?"

Just as Fiyero felt he'd reached the bottom, a familiar face appeared at his door looking none too pleased to see him. "Fiyero."

He gulped. "Father."


	23. Face the Future

AN: Thank you all so much for making it to the end, and especially to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited it. I can't believe almost 300 reviews. You guys are so completely amazing. Thanks for not giving up on this story. I hope you like the end.

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Morrible whirled to see his stern-faced father outlined in the door. "Your Highness." She dipped in a shallow bow. "What a pleasure. We weren't expecting you here so soon."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Clearly." He strode forward, the epitome of authority conveyed in his confident bearing. Fiyero fought the urge to cower. "I happened to be in the Emerald City on business when I was informed of my son's…" Fiyero winced as his father located the word, "indiscretions."

"Oh," Morrible nodded. "Yes, well, that is convenient, at least."

"Convenient is not a word I would use, Madame." She wilted under the king's stare. "I believe I am owed an explanation."

"Yes, of course." She turned face Fiyero, who whispered a sincere prayer to become invisible. "You son and Miss Thropp have been uncovered in a compromising position, which is both a violation of her expulsion and of our student code of conduct."

Fiyero had refused to look at Elphaba in the hopes that she could stay unnoticed, but leave it to Morrible to call attention to her at the first opportunity. Elphaba paused in her attempt to defy physics and extend her clothing as the king fixed her in a long, evaluation stare.

He turned back to Morrible. "I was under the impression my son was the one expelled. How have they managed to continue this affair after discovery over a day ago? Surely your staff is not so lax as to allow this as a routine occurrence here."

Morrible colored. "Certainly not. I have just made the discovery now. I assure you, this is a most unusual event at this esteemed university."

Fiyero couldn't help a little bitterness that they discussed his 'indiscretion' as if he'd actually gotten to make love to that gorgeous creature. Oz, as if he'd even gotten to kiss her. But he knew better than to argue.

"If you'll pardon me." Fiyero braced himself. Polite restraint often heralded the worst punishment in the Tiggular household. "I have much to do. I would like to know what my son has done to deserve expulsion."

"Miss Thropp-"

The king's eyes went cold. "Enough about the girl. I believe I asked what my son had done."

Morrible froze, and Fiyero felt a sudden, fierce hope. She weighed her words with caution. "Yes, Your Highness. Of course. I would beg your pardon as her offense is closely linked with your son's."

He nodded once, and she continued.

"Miss Thropp and your son have caused quite the string of problems, between the reckless cavorting and cheating on exams," Fiyero opened his mouth to argue, but at the vicious look from his father, clacked his teeth shut again. "But the assault on one of our students simply cannot be tolerated."

"Fiyero assaulted a student?"

"I apprehended Miss Thropp, but your son came forward to confess his involvement." At the king's pointed look, she amended, "He lied, Your Highness. He connived to deceive me in a vain attempt to cover up his accomplice's crimes."

"So," his father stroked his beard, "expulsion is an appropriate consequence for a simple lie now?"

She blanched, "But…this morning…."

"He had already been expelled. Thus, he had nothing to lose. You can't expect an adolescent boy who believes himself to be leaving his young love not to cherish each remaining moment."

Fiyero heart twisted as he absorbed the truth in his father's words. He might not see Elphaba again. Now he felt ill himself.

"That does not mean it's excusable!" Morrible's face contorted.

"No, but it cannot be used as continued argument for expulsion."

Morrible flushed, but said nothing. His father studied the air for a moment.

"Madame, I must disagree with your decision. It seems to me that these two are only guilty of youth." Fiyero bristled at his problems so readily dismissed as immaturity, but he didn't dare interrupt his father. "Based on your overreaction here, I am loathe to trust they have not been the victims of such prejudice in the past. I believe both should be readmitted at once."

"Your son, perhaps, but that girl is a menace."

"So you say," his voice dry. "However, I find your judgment particularly compromised on the issue."

"Buh-"

His glare stopped Morrible mid-word. "Furthermore, I think the past few days should serve as enough punishment considering the decided lack of severity in the 'assault' on Master Tenmeadow's boy."

"You've-"

"Yes, Master Tenmeadow's sent me a post not long after yours. He wished to express remorse for any misunderstandings Fiyero might experience as a result of his son's recklessness. Both he and the boy were most apologetic."

"Oh."

The king's face then took on a deadly and disgusted look that actually sent Morrible skittering back a half-step. "And as for the girl's roommate, I think it would be best not to torment another innocent child in this debacle lest I make some threats of my own."

Morrible blanched. Then she forced a sickly sweet smile on her face, "Your highness, I believe-"

"In fact, in light of this bungled affair, I'm tempted to remove my son from this school, regardless, and express my dissatisfaction with the school more vocally." When Morrible cocked her head, his father added, "That is to say, publicly." He caught sight of Fiyero's horrified expression. "I think, however, I will let my son make the final decision."

"I want to stay," he blurted without a breath.

His father smiled. "Then you may. At least for now." The tightness in Fiyero's chest loosened, and he allowed himself to hope.

"Thank you," Morrible sighed, and the king took a step closer.

"Trust me when I say the moment he sends word of any undeserved mistreatment, I shall make good on my words."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"That is all, Madame. I'm sure you have much work to do, and I believe my son is in some desperate need of unpacking." His eyes swept the mess Fiyero had unearthed from below his bed, and Fiyero rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Madame Morrible clenched her jaw and spun on her heel without so much as a goodbye. Fiyero couldn't believe she'd given in.

With a gulp, Fiyero realized they were alone with his father. The king turned to Elphaba, who blushed again. Why hadn't they thought to get dressed? For perhaps the first time since he'd met her, Fiyero wished she had more clothes on.

His father took a grave step toward her.

"Father, this isn't what it looks like." He moved to intercept, but the king held up a hand. Elphaba stopped fidgeting and lifted her chin, the model of pride and strength.

His father stopped in front of Elphaba to study her eyes for a moment, but Elphaba betrayed none of her anxiety. When he smiled, Fiyero let out the breath he hadn't meant to hold. His father took Elphaba's hand in his with a chivalrous kiss.

"I'm so glad we got a chance to be acquainted. I owe you quite a debt, I believe, for taking care of my son."

She blushed. "I didn't do much. I seem to be a magnet for trouble."

"I would beg to differ." He raised his eyebrows. "Fiyero is no stranger to trouble, himself. You seem to have quite the good influence on him. Today not withstanding."

"Thank you," she mumbled, and Fiyero flashed her a smile. His father patted her hand fondly before turning to him.

"As for you…"

"Yes, Father?"

"I hoped to visit under more pleasant circumstances." Fiyero hung his head to wait for his punishment. As long as he could stay, he would glad be confined to holidays at the castle or no excursions beyond his room. Whatever would keep him near Elphaba. "I cannot condone deception, but, I am most impressed by your rather aberrant selflessness. I suppose this is a start."

Fiyero laughed. "Thanks, I think." Elphaba shifted to subtly pull his shirt lower on her thighs. The king gave Fiyero a knowing look.

"Well, I think it's time I took my leave." He winked. "I'm sure you could use a moment of privacy." He gave Elphaba's hand a final squeeze and hauled Fiyero out by the shoulder to follow him.

"Father?" Fiyero flashed a sincere smile. "Thanks. You know, and for Elphaba, too."

His father pulled him into a gruff half-hug. "Your first semi-noble act. Fiyero, my son, there may be hope for you yet."

He watched his father leave with a touch of reluctance, halfway afraid that without their protector, Morrible would pop back up and chop them into tiny bits. But then again, a half-dressed girl waited in his room for him.

"I can't believe you!" Elphaba rounded on him, eyes fierce.

"Ah!" He grabbed his heart. "Why did you sneak up on me like that?"

She glared. "You were, what, going to leave without even bothering to tell me why? You didn't think I deserved to know about your little plan? That I had some right to a say in it?"

"You would have said no."

"You're damn right I would have said no! What do you think you're doing?" She whacked him on the arm. "You think I could live with that?"

"Better you stay than me. You're at least an asset to society."

"So are you, you big lunk!" She bit her lips together in an attempt to calm down. They were attracting stares. Or more, her lack of attire was. "Come on. I'm not done yelling at you yet."

She stalked back down the hall to his room, hauling him behind her.

He shut the door and as she drew a breath, he sighed. "Okay. Let me have it. I know I deserve it."

She froze, mouth open, and stared at him. Her teeth clicked shut. She blinked. "You…"

He ran a hand through his hair. "I should have told you. I wanted to, but I didn't know how. I didn't want you to go argue with Morrible and get yourself expelled all over again."

She flushed. "And that's for you to decide? You have to step in and play the hero to the damsel in distress, like some stupid fairy tale?"

"No, but…" He waved his hands in frustration, "I couldn't just do nothing!"

"You should have told me."

He nodded and took one cautious step toward her. "Yes, I should have."

"Why? Why did you do that? You could have been expelled, and it would have been all my fault."

"No, I made my own decision." Another step. "None of it was your fault. If you want someone to blame, blame Horrible Morrible. She's the one with the vendetta." He took two more steps forward.

"But why, Fiyero? Why would you take my place?"

He shrugged, uncomfortable at his answer, by the gravity of its proof. "I'd do anything for you," he mumbled and hoped she didn't hear.

"Why?" her voice softer than his somehow. "Why would you do anything, Fiyero?"

How had he not noticed how close they had gotten? She'd mirrored his steps, and he'd been too busy evading her questions to notice. Neither of them found the courage to make eye contact, and Fiyero found himself staring at her lips. Her beautiful, parted lips that begged him to kiss them.

He licked his lips. Every nerve screamed to touch her. "Because…"

The hum of the fan seemed like a roar in the near silent room. Her eyelashes fluttered as she licked her lips in mimic of him. "Because why?"

"I…" He didn't get the words out because her lips closed the tiny distance between them. It wasn't a proper kiss, but the touch of her soft, supple lips against his derailed any thoughts his brain struggled to process.

He stepped into her as his arms snaked around her. He caressed her lips with his and coaxed her into an actual kiss. The sensation was dizzying. He pressed her against him as if he could merge them into one body. As the kiss deepened, Elphaba sighed, and he ran his hand up her spine to tangle in her hair.

Somehow he regained enough sense to breathe, and when he pulled back, Elphaba stumbled out of his arms. "That was…"

"Amazing," she confirmed. She touched a finger to her lips to make sure they were still on.

"Just amazing? Let's try again. I can do better," he promised with a step toward her.

She smiled and pressed a palm to his cheek. "I'm sure."

Slower, he reminded himself. Calm down. It was hard. He rested his forehead against hers to let their lips brush idly against each others'. He still hadn't caught his breath when she bit her lip, and burst into giggles.

"Well, that's new." He smiled as she blinked through her lashes at him, still hiccupping. "What's so funny?"

"We finally did it." He raised his eyebrows, and she blushed and punched his shoulder. "Kissed, you pervert. We finally kissed. "

"I was starting to think we never would."

Her laughter proved infectious. They echoed their relief in chuckles and giggles that shook them both until his cheeks hurt. When he regained his senses, he stilled her lips with a long, gentle kiss. She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. He led her to the bed and, with great restraint, sat beside her.

"So what now?"

"How do you mean?" he asked, his arm draped around her waist.

"Well, I haven't exactly had a boyfriend before."

"Me neither," he smirked at her exasperated sigh. "We go on dates, spend time together, hold hands, and confide in each other. You know, take care of each other."

"So how is that any different than before?"

He smiled. "Well, I get to do this," he paused to meet her lips in a sweet kiss, "which I would consider a plus."

"I agree." He pulled her onto his lap to deepen their kisses. For several long moments, they lost themselves in the soft exploration of each other's lips. Until she pulled back abruptly. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"What, this?" He kissed her again. "Absolutely."

"No, I mean, dating. What if I screw it up? It's not like I'm the easiest person to be around, and sometimes you still drive me insane."

"I try."

She stood up to pace. "Be serious, Fiyero. What if we end up hating each other?"

"We won't."

"Or I mess everything up."

"You won't."

"Or we get bored with each other."

He gave her a significant look. "No chance."

"And end up miserable?"

He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her softly. "We're going to be fine. Don't worry. How could we possible not be great together? Look how incredible you are, and I'm not a total loser, am I?"

She rolled her eyes.

"We're going to be great."

"What makes you so sure?"

He held her hand over his heart. "You."

He took her silence as another opportunity to kiss her, which he took advantage of as long as he could before she pulled back. "I don't have any idea what I'm doing. I'm awful with people and relationships."

"I'll teach you." He kissed her nose. "Isn't that why we have lessons?"

She laughed and slid closer. "Well, you are a _very_ good teacher."

"That's right, I am." He silently thanked himself for teaching her to flirt. "First new lesson – when alone with your boyfriend, quit worrying and kiss him."

"Like this?" She reached up to brush her lips against his.

"Mmm." He tugged her back onto his lap. "Exactly."

"Practice makes perfect."

"Just what I was thinking." He kissed her back, and for the next hour neither one of them managed another conscious thought.

THE END


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